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OF   TUE 

Theological   Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.J. 

BV   4500    .T28    1835 
Taylor,    Jeremy,    1613-1667 
Holy  living  and  dying 


A      DO  NATION 


^v(^it^^^:1^ 


Keceiued 


HOLY 
LIVING  AND  DYING; 

WITH 

PRAYERS: 

CONTAINING 

THE  COMPLETE  DUTY  OF  A  CHRISTIAN. 


-/ 


BY  JEREMY   TAYLOR. 

TO  WHICH  IS  PREFIXED 

A  MEMOIR  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 


THOMAS  WARDLE,  No.  15  MINOR  STREET. 

STEREOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHNSON. 

1835. 


THE  LIFE 

OF 

JEREMY  TAYLOR,  D.  D. 


Jeremy  Taylor,  the. third  son  of  Nathaniel  Taylor,  a 
barber-surgeon-  at  Cambridge,  was  born  on  the  15th  of 
August,  1613.  His  family, -had  formerly  held  a  respect- 
able rank  in  Gloucestershire ;  and  he  was  lineally  de- 
scended from  Dr.  Rowland  Taylor,  chaplain  to  Archbishop 
Cranmer,  who  suffered  death  at  the  stake,  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Mary.  Jeremy  Taylor  was  taught  the  rudiments 
of  grammar  and  mathematics  by  his  father,  and  in  the 
Free-school  at  Cambridge  he  received  further  instruction. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  was  entered  as  a  sizar  of  Caius 
College;  and  took  his  degree  of  master  of  arts,  and  was 
admitted  into  holy  orders,  in  1633.  About  this  period  he 
removed  to  London,  having  been  engaged  by  a  former 
chamber-fellow,  of  the  name  of  Risden,  to  supply  his  place 
as  lecturer  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  for  a  short  time.  Here 
he  preached,  says  Dr.  Rust,  "  to  the  admiration  and 
astonishment  of  his  auditory,  and  by  his  florid  and  youth- 
ful beauty,  and  sweet  and  .pleasant  air,  and  sublime  and 
raised  discourses,  he  made  his  hearers  take  him  for  some 
young  angel  newly  descended  from  the  visions  of  glory." 
Laud,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  having  heard  the  fame  of 
Taylor's  eloquence,  was  anxious  to  hear  him,  and  sent  for 
the  young  divine  to  preach  before  him  at  Lambeth.  The 
archbishop  was  highly  pleased  with  his  discourse,  but  ob- 
served that  he  was  too  young  for  the  office  he  was  then 
filling  in  St.  Paul's.  Taylor  "  humbly  begged  his  grace  to 
pardon  that  fault,  and  promised  if  he  lived  he  would  mend 
it."  Being  chancellor  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  Laud 
was  desirous  that  Taylor  should  remove  thither,  either  be- 
cause he  would  be  better  enabled  to  advance  him  there, 
or,  as  Dr.  Rust  says,  "  to  afford  him  better  opportunities  of 
study  and  improvement  than  a  course  of  constant  preach- 
ing would  allow  of."  He  complied  with  the  chancellor's 
desire,  and  in  1635  was  admitted  master  of  arts  in  Uni- • 

3 


jy  THE  LIFE  OF 

versity  College.  The  following  letter  was  written  by  Laud 
to  the  warden  and  fellows  of  A11-Squ1s  College,  three  days 
after  his  admission. 

''To  the  Warden  and  Fellows  of  All-Souts  College,  Oxford. 
Salutemin  Christo. 

"These  are  on  the  behalf  of  an  honest  man  and  a  scho- 
lar ;  Mr.  Osborn  being  to  give  over  his  fellowship,  was 
with  me  at  Lambeth,  and,  I- thank  him,  ffeely  offered  me 
the  nomination  of  a  scliolar  to  succeed  in  his  place.'  Now 
having  seriously  deliberated  with,  myself  touching  this  bu- 
siness°  and  being  willing  ta  recommend  such  an  one  to  .you 
as  you  might  thank  me.  for,  1  am  resolved  to  pitch  upon 
Mr.  Jeremiah  Taylor,  of  whose  abilities  and  sufiiciencies 
every  wavs  I  have  received  f  ery  good  assurance.  And  I  • 
do  hereby  heartily  pr^y  you  to  gire,  him  all  furtherance, 
by  yourself  and  the  fellows,  at  the  next  election,  not 
doubting  but  .that  he  wiM  approve  himself  a  worthy  and 
learned  member  of  your  society.  Ancl  though  he  has  had 
his  breeding,  for  the  most-part,  in  the  otlier  university,  yet 
I  hope  that  shall  be  no  puejudice  to  him,  in  regard  that  he 
is  incorporated  into  Oxford,  {ut  sit  eodem  qrdinc,  g7'adu,(^-c.) 
and  admitted  into  University  College.  ■  Neither  can  1  learn 
that  there  is  any  thing  in  your  local  statutes  against  it.  I 
doubt  not  but  yt)U  will  use  him  with* so  fair  respects  as  be- 
fits a  man  of  his  rank  and  learning;  for  which  I  shall  not 
fail  to  give  you  thanks.  So  Ijeave  him  to  .your  kindness, 
and  rest        ^  "  Your  loving  friend, 

'^WILLIAM  CANT." 

The  following  account-  of  Ihe  proceedings  on  this  elec- 
tion, is  extracted  from  Ilebcr's  Life  of  Taylor,  prefixed  to 
the  complete  edition  of  his  Avorks. 

"  What  authority,"  says  he,  "  Mr.  Osborn  can  have  had 
to  dispose  in  this  manner  of  the  nomination' to  a  fellowship 
which  he  was.himself  about  to  resign,  or  how  he  could  un- 
dertake to  influence  an  election  in  which  he  was  to  have 
no  voice,  is. not  very  easy  to  conjecture;  "unless  we  sup- 
pose him  to  haiic' spoken  the  sentimenls  of  some  other  of 
his  brethren,  who  may  have  desired  to  pay  their  visitor  the 
unusual  compliment  of  asking  his  opinion  in  the  choice  of 
a  new  member  of  the'society.  The  recommendation,  how- 
■  ever,  forcible  as  it  must,  hate' been,  was  not  received  with 


JEREMY  TAYLOR.  V 

implicit  deference,  inasmuch  as  a  reasonable  doubt  existed 
whether  Taylor  was  strictly  cli^nble.  Wood,  indeed,  is 
wronjy  in  saying,  he  was  above  the  age  at  which  he  might 
be  chosen  ;  but  the  statutes  arc  express  in  requiring  can- 
didates to  be  of  three  years'  standing  in  the  university, 
whereas  ten  days  had,  at  the  time  of  the  election,  barely 
(lapsed,  since  Taylor  had  been  incorporated  into  Oxford. 
It  is  true,  that  Laud  seems  to  have  supposed  that  his  ad- 
mission ad  eimdem,  as  it  entitled  him  to  all  the  privileges  of 
a  master  of  arts,  entitled  him  to  whatever  advantages  were 
conferred  by  that  standing  in  the  university,  which  lie  must 
have  had  in  order  to  take  his  degree  there  regularly ;  and 
a  very  great  majority  of  the  fellows,  either  convinced  by 
this  argument,  or  desirous  of  straining  a  point  in  favour  of 
a  candidate  so  deserving  and  so  powerfully  recommended, 
appear  to  have  espoused  his  cause,  and  to  have  voted  in 
the  first  instance  for  his  admission.  Sheldon,  however, 
the  warden,  (afterward  himself  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  a  munificent  benefactor  to  the  university,)  less  pliant 
or  more  scrupulous,  refused  to  concur  in  the  election. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  fellows  persisting  in  their 
choice,  no  election  at  all  took  place  ;  but  the  nomination 
devolved  in  due  course  to  the  archbishop,  as  visitor  of 
the  college,  w^ho  thus  acquired  the  right  of  appointing 
'I'aylor,  by  his  sole  authority,  to  the  vacant  situation,  on 
the  14th  of  January,  1636."' 

According  to  Wood,  his  preaching  at  Oxford  Avas 
greatly  admired.  He  was,  but  at  what  particular  time  is  not 
certain,  made  chaplain  to  the  archbishop  ;  and  in  March, 
1637-8,  w^as  presented  to  the  rectory  of  Uppingham,  in 
Rutlandshire,  by  Juxton,  bishop  of  London.  Taylor  was 
now,  to  all  appearance,  settled  in  a  situation  of  comfortable 
independence ;  and  soon  afterward,  in  the  26th  year  of 
his  age,  he  entered  into  a  matrimonial  alliance  with  Phoebe 
Langsdale. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  struggle  between  Charles 
and  his  parliament,  Taylor  joined  the  king*  at  Oxford; 
where  he  published,  in  1642,  by  his  majesty's  command,  a 
treatise,  entitled  "  Episcopacy  asserted  against  the  Ace- 
phali  and  Aerians,  new  and  old ;"  which  was  dedicated  to 

*  Previously  to  the  termination  of  Charles's  misfortunes,  Taylor  received 
from  him,  in  token  of  his  regard,  his  watch,  and  a  few  pearls  and  rubies, 
vliich  had  ornamented  the  ebony  case  in  which  he  kept  his  Bible. 


n  THE  LIFE  OF 

Christopher  Hatton,  his  neighbour  and  patron ;  he  was 
admitted  the  same  year,  with  many  other  loyalists,  to  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  by  virtue  of  thft  royal  man- 
date. It  was  probably  about  this  time,  that  his  rectory  of 
Uppingham  was  sequestered  ;  but  the  confusions  which  pre- 
vailed make  it  impossible  to  trace  his  history  with  certainty. 

From  the  Dedication  to  his  "  Liberty  of  Prophesying," 
it  appears  that  he  had  sought  a  refuge  from  civil  commo- 
tions in  Wales.  "  In  the  great  storm,"  says  he,  "  which 
dashed  the  vessel  of  the  church  all  in  pieces,  I  had  been 
cast  on  the  coast  of  Wales,  and  in  a  little  boat  thought  to 
have  enjoyed  that  rest  and  quietness,  which  in  England,  in 
a  far  greater,  I  could  not  hope  for.  Here  I  cast  anchor, 
and  thinking  to  ride  safely,  the  storm  followed  me  with  so 
impetuous  violence,  that  it  broke  a  cable,  and  I  lost  my 
anchor.  And  here  again  I  was  exposed  to  the  mercy  of 
the  sea,  and  the  gentleness  of  an  element  that  could  nei- 
ther distinguish  things  nor  persons :  and  but  that  He  that 
stilleth  the  raging  of  the  sea,  and  the  noise  of  his  waves, 
and  the  madness  of  his  people,  had  provided  a  plank  for 
me,  I  had  been  lost  to  all  the  opportunities  of  content  or 
study  ;  but  I  know  not  whether  I  have  been  more  pre- 
served by  the  courtesies  of  my  friends,  or  the  gentleness 
and  mercies  of  a  noble  enemy."  According  to  Wood,  he 
followed  the  royal  army  as  chaplain;  and,  in  1644,  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  parliamentary  forces  which  defeated 
Colonel  Gerard  before  the  Castle  of  Cardigan.  How  long 
he  remained  a  prisoner  does  not  appear,  nor  by  what  means 
he  was  released. 

This  year,  his  edition  of  the  Psalter,  with  collects  to  each 
psalm,  appeared  at  Oxford,  under  the  name  of  the  right 
lionourable  Christopher  Hatton  ;  but  the  eighth  and  an  en- 
larged edition  having  been  published  in  Taylor's  own  name, 
in  1672,  its  authenticity  is  now  generally  acknowledged. 
About  the  same  time  he  published  anonymously,  "  A  De- 
fence of  the  Liturgy,"  which  he  afterward  expanded  into  a 
larger  work.  Taylor  had  now  recourse  to  keeping  a  school, 
which  he  carried  on  in  partnership  with  William  Nicholson, 
afterward  bishop  of  Gloucester,  and  William  Wyat,  subse- 
quently a  prebendary  of  Lincoln,  at  Newton-hall,  in  the 
parish  of  Lanfihangel.  The  conductors  of  this  establish- 
ment produced,  in  1647,  "  A  new  and  easy  Institution  of 
Grammar ;"  and,  in  the  same  year,  Taylor  published  his 


JEREMY  TAYLOR.  vii 

"  Liberty  of  Prophesying,"  an  admirable  book,  although 
composed  under  very  disadvantageous  circumstances.  "  I 
had,"  says  he,  in  his  dedication  to  Lord  Hatton,  "no  books 
of  my  own  here,  nor  any  in  the  voisinage,  and  but  that  I 
remembered  the  result  of  some  of  those  excellent  discourses 
which  I  had  heard  your  lordship  make,  when  I  was  so 
happy  as  in  private  to  gather  up  what  your  temperance  and 
modesty  forbids  to  be  public,  I  had  come  in  pra>lia  inermis, 
and  like  enough  might  have  fared  accordingly." 

Taylor's  first  wife  being  dead,  he  had  married  for  his 
second  wife  Mrs.  Joanna  Bridges,  who  was  possessed  of  an 
estate  at  Mandinam,  in  Carmarthenshire.  By  this  lady,  who 
is  said  to  have  been  an  illegitimate  daughter  of  Charles  L 
he  had  several  children.  As  he  had  engaged  in  the  ofRce 
of  a  teacher  for  a  subsistence,  it  is  probable  he  relinquished 
it  about  this  period,  when  it  was  no  longer  necessary. 

In  1648,  he  published  "The  Life  of  Christ,  or  the  great 
Exemplar,"  which  soon  became  more  popular  than  any  of 
his  preceding  compositions.  This  was  succeeded  by  the 
well-known  and  useful  w^ork  to  which  this  Life  is  prefixed 
— his  "  Holy  Living  and  Holy  Dying,"  composed  at  the 
desire  of  Lady  Carbery,  the  wife  of  Richard  Vaughan,  earl 
of  Carbery,  a  great  friend  and  patron  of  the  author,  who 
resided  at  Golden  Grove,  in  the  same  parish  in  which 
Taylor  lived.  He  also  composed  a  short  Catechism  for 
Children,  and  twenty-seven  Sermons  for  the  summer  half- 
year.  In  addition  to  a  controversial  tract,  on  the  differ- 
ences between  the  Roman  Catholic  and  English  churches, 
he,  in  1654,  extended  his  Catechism  for  Children  into  the 
manual,  which  he  called  "  Golden  Grove,"  in  honour  of 
the  mansion  of  Lord  Carbery.  Some  expressions  in  the 
Preface  to  this  little  work,  gave  offence  to  the  government, 
and,  as  we  learn  from  a  letter  of  John  Evelyn  (who  after- 
ward became  a  valuable  friend  of  Taylor,)  caused  his  com- 
mittal to  prison.  There  is  considerable  obscurity  about  this 
event  in  Taylor's  Life.  Mr.  Ileber  conjectures,  that  he  was 
a  second  time  imprisoned  for  the  same  cause;  a  supposi- 
tion founded  partly  on  a  letter  of  Evelyn,  and  on  the  much 
stronger  evidence  of  a  letter  of  Taylor,  published  with  his 
"/>ez/s  Jusfijicatvs,^''  alluding  to  his  then  being  a  prisoner 
in  Chepstow-castle.  Of  this  second  imprisonment  no 
more  is  known  than  of  the  first,  although  it  is  apparent 
from  his  letter,  that  he  was  at  his  wife's  house  at  Mandinam 


viii  THE  LIFE  OF 

in  November,  1655.  Taylor,  however,  was  not  idle;  hfe 
completed  his  series  of  Sermons  for  the  whole  year,  by  the 
addition  of  twenty-five  Discourses,  and  also  produced  his 
"Unum  Necessarium,  or  the  Doctrine  and  Practice  of  Re- 
pentance, describing  the  Necessity  of  a  strict,  a  holy,  and 
a  Christian  Life,  and  rescued  from  popular  Errors."  In 
this  discourse,  Taylor's  explication  of  the  doctrine  of  ori- 
ginal sin,  gave  offence  to  his  brethren  of  the  church  of 
England,  as  well  as  to  the  Calvinists ;  and  produced  a  con- 
troversy with  a  Calvinistic  preacher  of  the  name  of  Jeanes. 
An  answer  to  this  essay  of  Taylor  was  also  publi&hed  by 
John  Gaule. 

Taylor,  in  a  letter  dated  Feb.  22,  1656-7,  and  probably 
addressed  to  Evelyn,  communicates  the  death  of  two  of  his 
sons,  and  his  intention  to  be  in  London  before  Easter. 
Thither  he  accordingly  went,  and,  according  to  Wood,  offi- 
ciated in  a  private  congregation  of  Episcopalians.  His 
poverty,  to  which  he  so  frequently  alludes  before  this  time, 
was  now  alleviated  by  a  yearly  pension  settled  upon  him 
by  his  kind  friend  Evelyn — a  proof  of  his  friendship  and 
generosity,  which  Taylor  acknowledges  in  a  letter  of  "  most 
eloquent  gratitude,"  dated  15th  May,  1657. 

"  To  John  Evelyn,  Esquire. 

"  HONOURED  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

"  A  stranger  came  two  nights  since  from  you  with  a  letter 
and  a  token,  full  of  humanity  and  sweetness  that  was,  and 
this  of  charity.  I  know  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive,  so  neither  can  I  envy  that  felicity  of  yours,  not 
only  that  you  can,  but  that  you  do  give ;  and  as  I  rejoice 
in  that  mercy  which  daily  makes  decrees  in  heaven  for  my 
support  and  comfort,  so  I  do  most  thankfully  adore  the 
goodness  of  God  to  you,  whom  he  consigns  to  greater  glo- 
ries by  the  ministeries  of  these  graces.  But,  Sir,  what  am 
I,  or  what  can  I  do,  or  what  have  I  done,  that  you  think  1 
have,  or  can  oblige  you  ?  Sir,  you  are  too  kind  to  me,  and 
oblige  me  not  only  beyond  my  merit,  but  beyond  my  mo- 
desty. I  only  can  love  you,  and  honour  you,  and  pray  for 
you ;  and  in  all  this  I  cannot  say  but  that  I  am  behindhand 
with  you ;  for  I  have  found  so  great  effluxes  of  all  your 
worthiness  and  charities,  that  I  am  a  debtor  for  your  prayers, 
for  the  comfort  of  your  letters,  for  the  charity  of  your  hand, 


JEREMY  TAYLOR.  ix 

and  the  affections  of  your  heart.  Sir,  though  you  are  be- 
yond the  reach  of  my  returns,  and  my  services  are  very 
short  of  toucliing  you,  yet  if  it  were  possible  for  me  to  re- 
ceive any  commands,  the  obeying  of  which  might  signify 
my  great  regards  of  you,  Icouhl  with  somcTnore  confidence 
converse  with  a  person  so  obliging;  but  1  am  obliged,  and 
ashamed,  and  unable  to  say  so  nmch  as  I  would  do,  to  re- 
present myself  to  be, 

"  Honoured  and  dear  Sir, 
"  Your  most  affectionate,  and  obliged  Friend  and  Servant, 

."JER.  TAYLOR."     . 

At  the  commencement  of  the  ensuing  year  Taylor  was 
confined  in  the  Tower,  on  account  of  the  indiscretion  of  his 
publisher,  who  hud  prefixed  to  his  "Collection. of  Offices," 
a  print  of  Christ  in  "the  attitude  of  prayer^  a  species  of  re- 
presentation at  that  time  considered  as  tending  to  idolatry, 
and  prohibited  by  statute,  under  the  pain  of  fine  and  im- 
prisonnient.  We  find  him,,  however,  at  Says  Coiirt  on  the 
25tli  February  following,  so  that  his  restraint  was  but  of 
short  duration. 

In  June,  1658,  Taylor  left  London,  and  removQ^  to 
Ireland,  an  alternate  lectureship  having  been  procured 
him  in  the  town  of  Lisburii,  by  Edward,  Earl  of  Conway, 
who  possessed  large,  estates  in  the  neighbourhood.  He 
obtained  letters  of  recommendation  to  several  persons  of 
rank  and  influence  in.  that  kingdom,  and  a  passport  and 
protection  under  .the  sign  manual  of  Cromwell  himself. 
Thus  the  scene  of  Taylor's  usefulness  was  again  changed. 
He  fixed  his  residence  near  Portmore,  the  mansion  of  his 
new  patron,  a  delightful  neighbourhoodj  to  w^hich  he  Avas 
extremely  partial.  But  his  situation  w:as  insuflicient  to 
raise  him  to  independence,  since  Evelyn  still  continued  to 
pay  him  his  yearly  pension.'  Notwithstanding  his  se- 
cluded abode,,  articles  were  exhibited  against  him,  b/  a 
person  named  Tandy,  to  the  Irish  privy-council,  as  a  dan- 
gerous and  disaffected  |)erson.  That  he  had  baptized 
a  child  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  was  the  most  important 
part  of  the  charge ;  but  this  occasioned  the  renewal  of  a 
report  that  he  was  inclined  to  Popery.  A  warrant  w\is 
accordingly  issued,  and  he  was  conveyed  to  Dublin  in  the 
mi.dst  of  w.inter  :  a  severe  illness  was  the  consequence. 
Whether  any  punishment  was  inflicted  upon  him  docs  1.10I 


X  THE  LIFE  OF 

appear.  After  a  Residence  of  about  two  years  in  Ireland, 
our  author  made  a  journey  to  London,  probably  for  the 
purpose  of  seeing  his  Ductor  Duhitantium  through  the 
press.  On  this  work  he  had  been  long  employed,  its  pro- 
gress he  had  re'garded  with  much  solicitude,  and  on  its 
completion  he  had  founded  his  brightest  hopes  of  renown 
and  usefulness.  But  his  expectations  were  not  realized  at 
the  timiC  of  publication,  nor  has  it  become  popular  since. 
Compilations  of  this  kind,  in  the  Roman-  Catholic  church, 
no  doubt  suggested  the  usefulness  of  such  a  work;  but 
times  had  altered  t(5o  much  to  render  it  necessary  to  Pro- 
testants, and  Roman  Catholics  would  have  no  Tecoiirse  to 
the  work  of  a  heretic*  Besides,  with  all  its  learning  and 
acuteness,  it  does  not  possess  that  fervid  eloquence  and 
beauty  of  composition,  which  form  the  charm  of  his  more 
.popular  works.  • 

This  year  (1660)  also  produced  "The  Worthy  Commu- 
nicant," accompanied  by  his  Sermon  on  the  death  of  Sir 
George  Dalstone.  Taylor's  journey  to  London  was  at  a 
fortunate  juncture  ;  his  name  appeared  subscribed  to  the 
declaration  of  the  loyalists,  in  London  and  its  -  vicinity, 
on  the  24th  April,  and  his  merit  was  not  overlooked  on 
the  restoration ;  for  he  was  appointed  to  the  bishopric  of 
Down  and  Connor,  on  the  6th  of  August ;  and  shortly  after- 
ward was  elected  chancellor  of  the  university  of  Dublin. 
He  preached  in  the  January  following,  on  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  two  archbishops  and  ten  bishops, — before  the 
tv;o  houses  of  parliament,  on  the  8th  May, — and  again 
before  the. primate  at  his  metropolitan  visitation  of  Down 
and  Connor.  In  February,  in  that  year,  he  was  made 
a  member  of  the  L'ish  privy-council ;  and  in  addition  to  his 
former  diocess,  was  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  the 
small  adjacent  one  of  Dromore,  in  April.  Taylor  discharged 
the  duties  of  his  episcopal  function  with  great  zeal,  min- 
gled with  charity,  frequently  inviting  the  puritanical  clergy 
to  friendly  conferences,  and  endeavouring  to  soften  down 
their  prejudices  against  the  established  church  by  kindness 
and  attention. 

"  In  answer  to  these  advances,"  says  Heber,  "  the  pul- 
pits resounded  with  exhortations  to  stand  by  the  covenant 
even  unto  blood  :  with  bitter  invectives  against  the  episco- 
pal order,  and  against  Taylor  more  particularly  ;  while  the 
preachers  entered  into  a  new  engagement  among    them- 


JEKEMV  TAYLOR.  xi 

selves,  to  speak  with  no  liisliop,  and  to  endure  neither  their 
government  nor  their  pcri^ons  !  The  virtues  and  eloquence 
of  Taylor,  however,  were  not  without  eflect  on  the  laity, 
who.  were  at  the  same  time  offended  by  the  refusal  of  their 
pastors  to  attend  a  public  conference.  The  nobility  and 
gentry  of  the  three  dioceses,  with  one  single  exception, 
came  over  by  degrees  to  the  bishop's  side :  and  we  are 
even  assured  by  Carte,  that  during  the  two  years  which  in- 
tervened before  the  enforcement  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity, 
the  great  mnjority  of  the  ministers  themselves  had  yielded, 
if  not  to  his  argument,  to  his  persevering  kindness  and 
Christian  example." 

Besides  the  sermons  above  alluded  to,  he  published,  in 
1661,  a  small  manual  of  rules  for  his  clergy — in  1662,  his 
Via  IiitelligencicE — in  1663,  "A -Defence  and  Introduction 
to  the  rite  of  Confirmation,"  and  three  sermons — and  in  the 
succeeding  year,  his  "  Dissuasive,  from  Popery,"  which  was 
undertaken  by  the  desire  of  the  collective  body  of  Irish 
bishops,  and  was,  the  last  of  his  publications;  but  he  had 
written  a  "  Discourse  on  Christian  Consolation,"  and  "  Con- 
templations on  the  State  of  Man,"  which  were  both  pub- 
lished after  his  death.  This  event  took  place  on  the  13th 
August,  1667,  after  ten  days'  sickness,  in  the  fifty-fifth 
year  of  his  age,  and  the  seventh  of  his  episcopacy ;  he  was 
buried  at  Dromore  where  his  friend  Dr.  Rust  preached 
his  funeral  sermon.  Taylor's  sons  died  during  *his  life- 
time, but  his  widow  and  three  daughters  survived  him : 
the  eldest  tlied  unmarried;  the  second,  Mary,  married 
Dr.  Francis  Marsh,  afterward  archbishop  of  Dublin,  whose 
descendants  are  numerous  and  wealthy;  and  the  third, 
Joanna,  married  Edward  Harrison,  of  Maralave,  Esq.  several 
of  whose  descendants  are  still  living. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  presents  as  fine  a  pattern  of  a  Christian 
bishop  as  the  annals  of  the  church  of  England  afford. 
His  fine,  though  ardent  temper,  his  bland  and  gentle  man- 
ners, his  deep  humility,  and  unbounded  charity,  were 
united  with  extensive  learning,  an  acute  and  vigorous  mind, 
and  a  free  and  excursive  spirit  of  inquiry  in  the  pursuit  of 
truth.  "  Nature,"  says  his  friend  Dr.  Rust,  "  had  be- 
friended him  much  in  his  constitution ;  for  he  was  a  per- 
son of  a  most  sweet  and  obliging  humour,  of  great  candour 
and  ingenuity ;  and  there  was  so  much  of  salt  and  fineness 
of  wit,  and  prettiness  of  address  in  his  familiar  discourses, 


Xii  THE  LIFE  OF  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

as  made  his  conversation  have  all  the  pleasantness  of  i 
comedy,  and  all  the  usefulness  of  a  sermon ;  his  soul  was 
made  up  of  harmony,  and  he  never  spake  but  he  charmed  hig 
hearers,  not  only  with  the  clearness  of  his  reason,  but  all 
his  words,  and  his  very,  tones  and  cadences,  were  strangely 
musical."  He  was  equally  amiable  in  domestic  life,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  manner  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  death  of 
his  sons,  and  his  frequent  allusions  to  domestic  happiness. 
His  kind  heart  is  eloquently  exhibited  in  the  following 
passage,  extracted  from  his  sermon  called  ".The  Marriage 
King."  "  Nothing,"  he  says,  "  can  sweeten  felicity  itself 
but  love ;  but  when  a  man  dwells  in  love  tlien  the  breasts 
of  his  wife  are  pleasant  as  the  droppings  on  the  hill  of 
Hermon,  her  eyes  are  fair  as  the  light  of  heaven  ;  she  is 
a  fountain  sealed,  and  he  can  quench  his  thirst,  and  east 
his  cares,  and  lay  his  sorrows  down  upon  her  lap,  and  can 
retire  home  to  his  sanctuary  and  refectory,  and  his  gardens 
of  sweetness  and  chaste  refreshments.  No  man  can  tell, 
but  he  that  loves  his  children,  how  many  delicious  accents 
make  a  man's  heart  dance  in  the  pretty  conversation  of 
those  dear  pledges — their  childishness,  their  stammering, 
their  little  angers,  their  innocence,  their  imperfections, 
their  necessities,  are  so  many  little  emanations  of  joy  and 
comfort,  to  him  that  delights  in  their  person  and  society." 

Few  have  been  so  anxious  to  extend,  their  sphere  of  use- 
fulness,' and  few  have  obtained  so  much  success  in  their 
endeavours  as  Taylor.  Though  belonging  to  an  ecclesias- 
tical establishment,  and  naturally  desirous  not  to  differ 
from  its  canons ;  yet  where  truth  required  it,  he  shook  off 
the  trammels  of  authority,  and  boldly  stated  his  views  and 
opinions  to  the  world.  To  his  heterodoxy  oil  the  subject 
of  original  sin,  we  have  before  adverted.  Our  warmest 
gratitude  is  due  to  him  for  the  principles  of  toleration 
which  he  advocated  in  his  "  Liberty  of  Prophesying,"  and 
which  established  the  right  of  every  sect  to  freedom  of 
conscience ;  he,  indeed,  claims  toleratioii  for  those  only 
who  acknowledge  the  Apostles'  creed,  which  he  lays  down 
as  the  rule  of  faith ;  but  his  arguments  are  of  general  ap- 
plication :  and  the  whole  spirit  of  the  work  is  in  favour  of 
universal  toleration. 


% 


CONTENTS. 


THE  RULE  AND  EXERCISES  OF  HOLY  LIVING. 

DeDICATIOiN -  PAGE,   XX  i 

CHAP.  I. — Consideration  of  the  Generallnstruments  and  Means  serving 
to  a  Holy  Life,  by  way  of  Introduction- 

Sect.  I. — The  first  General  Instrument  of  Holy  Living,  Care  of 

our  l^ime  -.-.....7 

Rules  for  employing  our  Time  ......       9 

The  benefits  of  this  Exercise  -         -         -         .  .         -     L5 

Sect.  II. — The  second  General  Instrument  of  Holy  Living,  Purity 

of  Intention  -         -         -         -         -         -         -         -16 

Rules  for  our  Intentions  -         -         -         -         .         -         -     17 

Signs  of  Purity  of  Intention         .......19 

Sect.  III. — The  third  General  Instrument  of  Holy  Living;  or  the 

Practice  of  the  Presence  of  God 23 

Several  manners  of  tlie  Divine  Presence  -         -         -         -     24 

Rules  of  exercising  this  Consideration  -         -         -         -         -     27 

The  benefits  of  this  Exercise  29 

Prayers  and  Devotions  according  to  the  Religion  and  Purposes  of 

the  foregoing  Considerations     ......     31 

For  Grace  to  spend  our  Time  well        -         -         -         -         -         -lb. 

The  first  Prayers  in  the  Morning,  as  soon  as  we  are  dressed  .    ib. 

An  Act  of  Adoration,  being  the  Song  that  the  Angels  sing  in  Heaven  32 
An  Act  of  Thanksgiving,  being  the  Song  of  David  for  the  Morning  ib. 
An  Act  of  Oblation,  or  presenting  ourselves  to  God  for  the  Day    -     33 
An  Act  of  Repentance  or  Contrition  -         .         .         .     ib. 

Prayer  or  Petition      .         .         -  -----     ib. 

An  Act  of  Intercession  or  Prayer  for  others,  to  be  added  to  this,  or 
any  other  Office,  as  our  Devotion,  or  Duty,  or  their  Needs 

shall  determine  us 34 

For  the  Church ib. 

For  the  King     -         - -         -         -     ib. 

For  the  Clergy ib. 

For  Wife  or  Husband 35 

For  our  Children ib. 

For  Friends  and  Benefactors ih. 

For  oiir  Family .         .         -     ib. 

For  all  in  misery        .........j5. 

Another  Form  of  Prayer,  for  the  Morning  -         -         .         -     36 

An  Ejaculation 38 

An  Exercise  to  be  used  at  any  Time  of  the  Day  -         -         -     ib. 

Hymn,  collected  out  of  the  Psalms,  recounting  the  Excellences 

and  Greatness  of  God ib. 

Another  Hymn 39 

Ejaculations  ib. 

Prayer       .....  .....40 

B 


i^^^f  CONTENTS. 

A  Form  of  Prayer  for  the  Evening,  to  be  said  by  such  who  have 
no  Time  or  Opportunity  to  say  the  public  Prayers  ap- 

pointed  for  this  Office 41 

Another  Form  of  Evening  Prayer,  which  may  also  be  used  at 

Bed-time 43 

Ejaculations  and  short  Meditations  to  be  used  in  the  Night,  when 

we  wake, -         -  44 

.    Ad  Sect.  II.]  A  Prayer  for  Holy  Intention  in  the  Beginning  and 

jH|-              Pursuit  of  any  considerable  Action,  as  Study  ,Preaching,&c.  46 
'  ^  Ad  Sect.  III.]  A  Prayer  meditating  and  referring  to  the  Divine 

Presence         .....-.--ib. 

^  CHAP.  II.— 0/  Christian  Sobriety. 

Sect.  I. — Of  Sobriety  in  the  general  Sense         -         -         -         -  47 

Evil  Consequences  of  Voluptuousness  or  Sensuality   -         -         -  ib. 

Degrees  ox"  Sobriety 48 

Rules  for  Suppressing  Voluptuousness 49 

Sect.  II. — Of  Temperance  in  Eating  and  Drinking    -         -         -  51 

Measures  of  Temperance  in  Eating 52 

Signs  and  Effects  of  Temperance 53 

Of  Drunkenness        - 54 

Evil  Consequents  of  Drunkenness 55 

Signs  of  Drunkenness 57 

Rules  for  obtaining  Temperance ib. 

Sect.  III.— Of  Chastity 59 

The  Evil  Consequents  of  Uncleanness 62 

Acts  of  Chastity  in  general 65 

Acts  of  Virginal  Chastity -         -  66 

Rules  for  Widows,  or  vidual  Chastity          -         -         -     '  -         -  67 

Rules  for  married  Persons,  or  Matrimonial  Chastity  -         -         -  ^8 

Remedies  against  Uncleanness 70 

Sect.  IV.— Of  Humility             .......  73 

Arguments  against  Pride,  by  way  of  Consideration     -         -         -  J,'^ 

Acts  or  Offices  of  Humility        -         '     ,    '        ."         "         '         •  "^^ 
Means  and  Exercises  ibr  obtaining  and  increasing  the  Grace  of 

Humility 80 

Signs  of  Humility     ...---.--  85 

Sect.  V.— Of  Modesty -         .         -  86 

Acts  and  Duties  of  Modesty,  as  it  is  opposed  to  Curiosity  -         -  ib. 

Acts  of  Modesty,  as  it  is  opposed  to  Boldness     -         -         -         -  89 

Acts  of  Modesty,  as  it  is  opposed  to  Indecency           -         -         -  90 

Sect.  VI.— Of  Contentedness  in  all  Estates  and  Accidents          -  92 

Instruments  or  Exercises  to  procure  Contentedness    -         -         -  96 

Means  to  obtain  Content,  by  way  of  Considerations     -         -         -  106 

Poverty,  or  a  low  Fortune -Ill 

The  Charge  of  many  Children 116 

Violent  Necessities              117 

Death  of  Children,  or  nearest  relatives  and  Friends    -        -        -118 

Untimely  Death 119 

Death  unseasonable 120 

Sudden  Death,  or  violent 121 

Being  Childless         -         -         -         -         - 122 

Evil  or  Unfortunate  Children ib. 


CONTENTS.  XV 

Our  own  Death 122 

Prayers  for  the  several  Graces  and  Parts  of  Cliristian  Sobriety      123 
A  Prayer  against  Sensuality      ..-.---     ib. 
For  Tcmperanco        .........     ib. 

For  Ciiastity  :  to  be  said  especially  by  unmarried  Persons  -  124 

A  Prayer  for  tlie  Love  of  God,  to  bo  said  by  Virgins  and  Widows, 

professed  or  resolved  so  to  live;  and  may  be  used  by  any 

one ib. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  married  Persons  in  behalf  of  themselves 

and  each  other 125 

A  Prayer  for  the  Grace  of  Humility ib. 

Acts  of  Humility  and  Modesty,  by  way  of  Prayer  and  Meditation  126 
A  Prayer  for  a  contented  Spirit,  and  the  Grace  of  Moderation  and 

Patience 127 

CHAP.  III.— 0/  Christian  Justice. 

Sect.  I. — Of  Obedience  to  our  Superiors 128 

Acts  and  Duties  of  Obedience  to  all  our  Superiors       -         -         -129 
Remedies  against  Disobedience,  and  Means  to  endear  our  Obe- 
dience, by  way  of  Consideration 132 

Degrees  of  Obedience 135 

Sect.  II. — Of  Provision,  or  that  Part  of  Justice  which  is  due  from 

Superiors  to  Inferiors 136 

Duties  of  Kings,  and  all  the  Supreme  Power  as  Lawgivers  -     ib. 

The  duty  of  Superiors,  as  they  are  Judges  ....  139 

Tlie  Duty  of  Parents  to  their  Children 140 

Rules  for  married  Persons 141 

The  Duty  of  Masters  of  Families 142 

The  Duty  of  Guardians  or  Tutors -143 

Sect.  III. — Of  Negotiation,  or  Civil  Contracts  -  -  -  -  ib. 
Rules  and  Measures  of  Justice  in  Bargaining    -         -         -         -     ib. 

Sect.  IV.— Of  Restitution 147 

Rules  of  making  Restitution 148 

Prayers  to  be  said  in  relation  to  the  several  Obligations  and  Of- 
fices of  Justice         ..-..--.  153 
A  Prayer  for  the  Grace  of  Obedience,  to  be  said  by  all  Persons 

under  Command ib. 

Prayers  for  Kings  and  all  Magistrates,  for  our  Parents,  spiritual 
and  natural,  are  in  the  following  Litanies,  at  the  end  of  the 

Fourtli  Chapter ib. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  Subjects,  when  their  land  is  invaded  and 
over-run  by  barbarous  or  wicked  People,  Enemies  of  the 

Religion  or  the  Government 154 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  Kings  or  Magistrates,  for  themselves  and 

their  people 155 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  Parents  for  their  Children  -  -  -  156 
A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  Masters  of  Families,  Curates,  Tutors,  or 

other  obliged  Persons,  for  their  Charges            -         -         -  157 
A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  Merchants,  Tradesmen,  and  Handicrafts- 
men        ib. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  Debtors,  and  all  Persons  obliged,  whether 

by  Crime  or  Contract      .......  158 

A  Prayer  for  Patron  and  Benefactors it^. 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAP.  IV.— 0/  Christian  Religion. 

Of  the  Internal  Actions  of  Religion 159 

Sect.  I.— Of  Faith 160 

The  Acts  and  Offices  of  Faith ib. 

Signs  of  True  Faith 161 

The  Means  and  Instruments  to  obtain  Faith       ....  163 
Sect.  II. — Of  the  Hope  of  a  Christian         .....  165 

The  Acts  of  Hope ib. 

Rules  to  govern  our  Hope  .......  166 

Means  of  Hope,  and  Remedies  against  Despair  ...  168 

Sect.  III.— Of  Charity,  or  the  Love  of  God,        .         -         -         -172 

The  Acts  of  Love  to  God 173 

The  Measures  and  Rules  of  Divine  Love 175 

Helps  to  increase  our  Love  to  God,  by  way  of  Exercise       .         -  176 

The  two  States  of  Love  to  God 178 

Cautions  and  Rules  concerning  Zeal  -         -         .         -         .179 

Of  the  External  Actions  of  Religion 181 

Sect.  IV.— Of  Reading  or  Hearing  tlie  Word  of  God  -         .182 

Rules  for  Hearing  or  Reading  the  Word  of  God  ...  183 

Advice  concerning  Spiritual  Books  and  Ordinary  Sermons  .  184 

Sect.  V.— Of  Fasting 185 

Rules  for  Christian  Fasting 186 

The  Benefits  of  Fasting 190 

Sect.  VI. — Of  keeping  Festivals,  and  Days  holy  to  the  Lord;  par. 

ticularly  the  Lord's  Day ib. 

Receiving  the  blessed  Sacrament 192 

Sect.  VII.— Of  Prayer 196 

Motives  to  Prayer     - ib. 

Rules  for  the  Practice  of  Prayer 197 

Cautions  for  making  vows  .......  203 

Remedies  against  wandering  Thoughts  in  Prayer       ...  204 
Signs  of  Tediousness  of  Spirit  in  our  Prayers  and  all  Actions  of 

Religion 205 

Remedies  against  Tediousness  of  Spirit      .....  206 

Sect.  VIII.— Of  Alms        -         -_ 210 

Works  of  Mercy,  or  the  several  kinds  of  Corporeal  Alms    -         -  211 

Works  of  Spiritual  Alms  and  Mercy ib. 

Rules  for  giving  Alms 212 

Motives  to  Charity  218 

Remedies  against  Unmercifulness  and  Uncharitableness     -        -  220 

1.  Against  Envy,  by  way  of  Consideration  -         .         .         .     ib. 

2.  Remedies  against  Anger,  by  way  of  Exercise  ...  221 
Remedies  against  Anger,  by  way  of  Consideration  -         -  224 

3.  Remedies  against  Covetousness,  the  third  Enemy  of  Mercy     -  226 

Sect.  IX.— Of  Repentance 231 

Acts  and  Parts  of  Repentance    . 233 

Motives  to  Repentance 239 

Sect.  X. — Of  Preparation  to,  and  the  Manner  how  to  receive  the 

Holy  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ....  241 
The  Effects  and  Benefits  of  worthy  Communicating  .  .  -  248 
Prayers  for  all  Sorts  of  Men  and  all  Necessities ;  relating  to  the 

several  Parts  of  the  Virtue  of  Religion  ....  249 
A  Prayer  for  the  Graces  of  Faith,  Hope,  Charity         -         -         .  250 


CONTENTS.  XVli 

Acts  of  Love,  by  way  of  Prayer  and  Ejaculation ;  to  be  used  in 

Private ,250 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  in  any  affliction,  as  Death  of  Children,  of 
Husband  or  Wife,  in  g-rcat  Poverty,  in  Iiiiprisonnient,  in 
a  sad  and  disconsolate  Spirit,  and  in  temptation  to  Despair     25 1 

Ejaculations  and  short  Meditations  to  be  used  in  Time  of  Sick- 
ness and  Sorrow,  or  Dang-cr  of  Death       ....  252 

An  Act  of  Faith  concerninfr  the  Resurrection  and  the  Day  of 

Judgment,  to  be  said  by  Sick  Persons,  or  meditated  -  253 

Short  Prayers  to  be  said  by  Sick  Persons  -         -         -         -         -     ib. 

Acts  of  Hope,  to  be  used  by  Sick  Persons  after  a  Pious  Life        -  256 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  in  behalf  of  a  Sick  or  Dying  Person     -         -     ib. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  in  a  Storm  at  Sea         .....  257 

An  Act  of  Resignation       ........  258 

A  Form  of  a  Vow  in  the  Time  of  Danger  -         -         .         .     ib. 

A.  Form  of  a  Prayer  to  be  used  for  a  Blessing  on  an  Enterprise        ib. 

^\  Prayer  before  a  Journey         .......     ib. 

\d  Sect.  IV.]  A  Prayer  to  be  said  before  the  Hearing  or  Reading 

the  Word  of  God 259 

A.D  Sect.  V.  IX.  X.]  A  Form  of  Confession  of  Sins  and  Repent, 
ance,  to  be  used  upon  Fasting  Days,  or  Days  of  Humilia. 
tion ;  especially  in  Lent,  and  before  the  Holy  Sacrament       ib. 

Prayer 262 

."!.]  Ex  Liturgia  S.  Basilii  magna  ex  parte  ....  263 

A  short  Form  of  Thanksgiving  to  be  said  upon  any  special  Deli- 
verance, as  from  Childbirth,  from  Sickness,  from  Battle, 
or  imminent  Danger  at  Sea  or  Land,  &c.         ...  267 

A  Prayer  of  Thanksgiving  after  the  receiving  of  some  great 
Blessing,  as  the  Birth  of  an  Heir,  the  Success  of  an  honest 
Design,  a  Victory,  a  good  Harvest,  &c.  ....  269 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  on  the  Feast  of  Christmas,  or  the  Birth  of  our 
Blessed  Saviour  Jesus :  the  same  also  may  be  said  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Annunciation  and  Purification  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary 270 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  upon  our  Birth-day,  or  Day  of  Baptism        -  271 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  upon  the  Days  of  the  Memory  of  Apostles, 

Martyrs,  &c 272 

A  Form  of  Prayer  recording  all  the  Parts  and  Mysteries  of 
Christ's  Passion,  being  a  short  History  of  it :  to  be  used 
especially  in  the  ^Veek  of  the  Passion,  and  before  the  re- 
ceiving of  the  Blessed  Sacrament ib. 

Prayer 276 

Ad  Sect.  VII.  VIII.  X.]  A  Form  of  Prayer  or  Intercession  for 
all  Estates  of  People  in  the  Christian  Church.  The  Parts 
of  which  may  be  added  to  any  other  Forms  ;  and  the  whole 
Office,  entirely  as  it  lies,  is  proper  to  be  said  in  our  Prepa- 
ration to  the  Holy  Sacrament,  or  on  the  Day  of  Celebration     ib, 

1.  For  Ourselves 277 

2.  For  the  whole  Catholic  Church ib. 

3.  For  all  Christian  Kings,  Princes,  and  Governors   .         .         .     ib- 

4.  For  all  the  Orders  of  them  that  minister  about  holy  Things       278 

5.  For  our  nearest  Relatives,  as  Husband,  Wife,  Children,  Fa- 

mily, &.C .         .         .     ib. 

b3 


XVlll  CONTENTS. 

6.  For  our  Parents,  our  Kindred  in  tiie  Flesh,  our  Friends  and 

Benefactors  -- 279 

7.  For  all  that  lie  under  the  Rod  of  War,  Famine,  Pestilence  :  to 

be  said  in  the  time  of  Plague,  or  War,  &c.       -         -         .  279 

8.  For  all  Women  with  Child,  and  for  Unborn  CJiildren  -  -  280 
d.  For  all  Estates  of  Men  and  Women  in  the  Christian  Church  -  ib. 
Ad  Sect.  X.]  The  Manner  of  using-  these  Devotions,  by  way  of 

Preparation  to  the  receiving  the  blessed  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  -         - 282 

A  Prayer  of  Preparation  or  Address  to  the  holy  Sacrament  -     ib. 

An  Act  of  Love -         .     ib. 

An  Act  of  Desire  -   183 

An  Act  of  Contrition  -         .  ib. 

An  Act  of  Faith ib. 

Petition  ....  284 

Ejaculations  to  be  said  before,  or  at,  the  receiving  of  the  holy  Sa- 
crament   ib. 

Ejaculations  to  be  used  any  time  that  Day,  after  the  Solemnity  is 

ended  ...  287 


THE  RULES  AND  EXERCISES  OF  HOLY  DYING. 

CHAP.  I. — A  general  Preparation  towards  a  holy  and  blessed 

Death,  by  way  of  Consideration. 
Sect.  I. — Consideration  of  the  Vanity  and  Shortness  of  Man's 

Life 13 

Sect.  II. — The  Consideration  reduced  to  Practice       -         -         -     14 
Sect.  III. — Rules  and  Spiritual  Arts  of  lengthening  our  Days,  and 

to  take  off  the  Objection  of  a  Short  Life  .         •         -    25 

Sect.  IV. — Consideration  of  the  Miseries  of  Man's  Life       -         -     34 
Sect.  V. — The  Consideration  reduced  to  Practice        .         .         -     39 

CHAP.  II. — A  general  Preparation  towards  a  holy  and  blessed 

Death,  by  way  of  Exercise. 
Sect.  I. — Three  Precepts  preparatory  to  a  holy  Death,  to  be  prac- 
tised in  our  whole  Life 42 

Sect.  II. — Of  Daily  Examination  of  our  Actions  in  the  whole 

Course  of  our  Health,  preparatory  to  our  Death-bed  -     47 

Reasons  for  a  Daily  Examination ib. 

The  Benefits  of  this  Exercise  49 

Sect.  III. — Of  Exercising  Charity  during  our  whole  Life  -     54 

Sect.  IV. — General  Considerations  to  enforce  the  former  Practices     57 
The  Circumstances  of  a  Dying  Man's  Sorrow  and  Danger  -    58 

CHAP.  III. — Of  the  State  of  Sickness,  and  the  Temptations  inci- 
dent to  it,  with  their  proper  Remedies 

Sect.  I.— Of  the  State  of  Sickness 61 

Sect.  II, — Of  the  first  Temptation  proper  to  the  State  of  Sickness, 

Impatience  .- 64 

Sect.  III. — Constituent  or  integral  Parts  of  Patience     .         -     .     66 
Sect.  IV. — Remedies  against  Impatience,  by  Vv'ay  of  Consideration     67 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

PAGE. 

Sect.  V. — Remedies  against  Impatience,  by  way  of  Exercise  -  74 
Sect.  VI. — Advantages  of  Sickness  -  -  .  -  -  79 
Sect.  VII. — The  second  Temptation  proper  to  the  State  of  Sick- 
ness, Fear  of  Death,  with  its  remedies  -  -  -  -  92 
Remedies  against  the  Fear  of  Death,  by  way  of  Consideration  -  93 
Sect.  VIII. — Remedies  against  the  Fear  of  Death,  by  way  of 

Exercise 97 

Sect.  IX. — General  Rules  and  Exercises  whereby  our  Sickness 

may  become  safe  and  sanctified 103 

CHAP.  IV.— 0/  the  Practice  of  the  Graces  proper  to  the  State  of 
Sickness,  which  a  Sick  Man  may  practice  alone. 

Sect.  I. — Of  the  Practice  of  Patience Ill 

The  Practice  and  Acts  of  Patience,  by  way  of  Rule     ...  112 
Sect.  II. — Acts  of  Patience,  by  way  of  Prayer  and  Ejaculation     -  118 
The  Prayer  to  be  said  in  the  Beginning  of  a  Sickness  -         .  122 

An  Act  of  Resignation,  to  be  said  by  a  Sick  Person  in  all  the  evil 

Accidents  of  his  Sickness        ......  123 

A  Prayer  for  the  Grace  of  Patience    .         -         .         .         .         -124 
A  Prayer  to  be  said  when  the  Sick  Man  takes  Physic  -         .  125 

Sect.  III. — Of  the  Practice  of  the  Grace  of  Faith,  in  the  Time  of 

Sickness  .........ib 

Sect.  IV. — Acts  of  Faith,  by  way  of  Prayer  and  Ejaculation,  to 

be  said  by  Sick  Men  in  the  Days  of  their  Temptation  .  129 
The  Prayer  for  the  Grace  and  Strengths  of  Faith  -  .  .131 
Sect.  V. — Of  the  Practice  of  the  Grace  of  Repentance  in  the  Time 

ofSickness 132 

Sect.  VI. — Rules  for  the  Practice  of  Repentance  in  Sickness       -  136 
Means  of  exciting  Contrition,  or  Repentance  of  Sins,  proceeding 

from  the  Love  of  God 139 

Sect.  VII. — Acts  of  Repentance,  by  way  of  Prayer  and  Ejacula- 
tion, to  be  used  especially  by  Old  Men  in  their  Age,  and  by 

all  Men  in  their  sickness 144 

A  Prayer  for  the  Grace  and  Perfection  of  Repentance  -         -  145 

A  Prayer  for  Pardon  of  Sins,  to  be  said  frequently  in  Time  of 

Sickness,  and  in  all  the  Portions  of  Old  Age     .         -         -  147 
An  Act  of  holy  Resolution  of  Amendment  of  Life,  in  case  of  Re- 
covery   148 

Sect.  VIII. — An  Analysis,  or  Resolution  of  the  Decalogue,  anJ 
the  special  Precepts  of  the  Gospel,  describing  the  Duties 
enjoined  and  the  Sins  forbidden  respectively  ;  for  the  As. 
sistance  of  Sick  Men  in  making  their  Confessions  to  God 
and  his  Ministers,  and  the  rendering  their  Repentance 
more  particular  and  perfect      ....  .  149 

I.  Comm.  Thou  shalt  have  none  other  Gods  but  me     .         -         .     ib. 

II.  Comm.  Thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any  graven  Image,  nor 

worship  it 151 

III.  Comm.  Thou  shalt  not  take  God's  Name  in  vain  -         .     ib. 

IV.  Comm.  Remember  that  thou  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  Day       .  152 

V.  Comm.  Honour  thy  Father  and  thy  Mother  -         .         .  153 

VI.  Comm.  Thou  shalt  do  no  IMurder 154 

VII.  Comm.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  Adultery     -         -         -         .     ib. 

VIII.  Comm.  Thou  slialt  not  Steal 155 


XX  CONTENTS. 

PAGB. 

IX.  Cornm.  Thou  shalt  not  bear  False  Witness  -         .         -     ib. 

X.  Comni.  Thou  shalt  not  Covet 156 

The  special  Precepts  of  the  Gospel 157 

Sect.  IX, — Of  the  Sick  Man's  Practice  of  Charity  and  Justice,  by 

way  of  Rule  -         - ]59 

Sect.  X. —  Acts  of  Charity,  by  way  of  Prayer  and  Ejaculation; 
which  may  also  be  used  for  Thanksgiving,  in  case  of  Re- 

covery 163 

Prayer 165 

CHAP.  V. — Of  Visitation  of  the  Sick :  or  the  Assistance  that  is  to  be 

done  to  Dying  Persons  by  the  Ministry  of  their  Clergy-guides. 

Sect.  I. — General  Observations  ......  166 

Sect.  II. — Rules  for  the  Manner  of  Visitation  of  Sick  Persons    -  168 
Sect.  III. — Of  Ministering  in  tlie  Sick  Man's  Confession  of  Sins 

and  Repentance      - --  171 

Arguments  and  Exhortations  to  move  the  Sick  Man  to  Confession 

ofSins 172 

Instruments  by  way  of  Consideration,  to  awaken  a  careless  Per- 
son, and  a  stupid  Conscience  .....  175 
Sect.  IV. — Of  the  ministering  to  the  Restitution  and  Pardon,  or 
Reconciliation  of  the  Sick  Person,  by  administering  the 

Holy  Sacrament 183 

Sect.  V. — Of  ministering  to  the  Sick  Person  by  the  Spiritual  Man, 

as  he  is  the  Physician  of  Souls         .....  193 

Considerations  agaiiist  unreasonable  Fears  of  not  having  our  Sins 

pardoned         .........     ib. 

An  Exercise  against  Despair  in  the  Day  of  our  Death  -         .  200 

Sect.  VI. — Considerations  against  Presumption  ...  205 

Sect.  VII. — Offices  to  be  said  by  the  Minister,  in  his  Visitation  of 

the  Sick 208 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  the  Priest  secretly  -         -         -         -     ib. 

A  Psalm 209 

Another  Prayer ib. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  the  Standers-by 212 

Another  Prayer -         -  214 

Ejaculations 215 

The  Blessing 216 

The  Doxology ib. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  in  the  Case  of  a  sudden  Surprise  by  Death,  as 
by  a  mortal  Wound,  or  evil  accidents  in  Childbirth,  when 
the  Forms  and  Solemnities  of  Preparation  cannot  be  used  217 
Sect.  VIII. — A  Peroration  concerning  the  Contingencies  and 
Treat  ings  of  our  departed  Friends  after  Death,  in  order  to 
their  Burial,  &c 218 


TO  THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE  AND  TRULY  NOBLE 

RIGHARD  LORD  VAUGHAN, 

EARL  OF  CARBERY,  KNIGHT  OF  THE  HONOURABLE  ORDER  OF  THE  BATH. 


My  Lord,— I  have  lived  to  see  religion  painted  upon  banners,  and  thrust  out 
of  churches,  and  the  temple  turned  into  a  tabernacle,  and  that  tabernacle 
made  ambulatory,  and  covered  with  skins  of  beasts  and  torn  curtains,  and  God 
to  be  worshipped,  not  as  he  is  "  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus"  (an  afflicted 
prince,  the  king  of  sufferings,)  nor  as  the  "  God  of  peace,"  (which  two  appella- 
tives God  newly  took  upon  him  in  the  New  Testament,  and  glories  in  it  for 
ever :)  but  he  is  owned  now^  rather  as  "  the  Lord  of  Hosts,"  w  hich  title  he  was 
pleased  to  lay  aside,  when  the  kingdom  of  the  gospel  was  preached  by  the 
Prince  of  peace.  But  when  religion  puts  on  armour,  and  God  is  not  acknow- 
ledged by  his  New  Testament  titles,  religion  may  have  in  it  the  power  of 
the  sword,  but  not  the  power  of  godliness ;  and  we  may  complain  of  this  to 
God,  and  amongst  them  that  are  afflicted,  but  we  have  no  remedy,  but  what 
we  must  expect  from  the  fellowship  of  Christ's  sufferings,  and  the  returns 
of  the  God  of  peace.  In  the  mean  time,  and  now  that  religion  pretends  to 
stranger  actions  upon  new  principles,  and  men  are  apt  to  prefer  a  pros- 
perous error  before  an  afflicted  truth,  and  some  will  think  they  are  religious 
enough,  if  their  worshippings  have  in  them  the  prevailing  ingredient ;  and 
the  ministers  of  religion  are  so  scattered,  that  they  cannot  unite  to  stop  the 
inundation,  and  from  chairs  or  pulpits,  from  their  synods  or  tribunals,  chastise 
the  iniquity  of  the  error,  and  the  ambition  of  evil  guides,  and  the  infidelity 
of  the  willingly-seduced  multitude,  and  that  those  few^  good  people,  who 
have  no  other  plot  in  their  religion  but  to  serve  God  and  save  their  souls, 
do  want  such  assistance  of  ghostly  counsel  as  may  serve  their  emergent  needs, 
and  assist  their  endeavours  in  the  acquist  of  virtues,  and  relieve  their  dangers, 
when  they  are  tempted  to  sin  and  death ;  I  thought  I  had  reasons  enough 
inviting  me  to  draw  into  one  body  those  advices,  which  the  several  neces- 
sities of  many  men  must  use  at  some  time  or  other,  and  many  of  them  daily ; 
that  by  a  collection  of  holy  precepts  they  might  less  feel  the  want  of  per- 
sonal and  attending  guides,  and  that  the  rules  for  conduct  of  souls  might  be 
committed  to  a  book,  which  they  might  alw  ays  have ;  since  they  could  not 
always  have  a  prophet  at  their  needs,  nor  be  suffered  to  go  up  to  the  house 
of  the  Lord  to  inquire  of  the  appointed  oracles. 

I  know,  my  Lord,  that  there  are  some  interested  persons,  who  add  scoru 
lo  the  afflictions  of  the  church  of  England,  and  because  she  is  afflicted  by 
men,  call  her  "  forsaken  of  the  Lord  ;"  and  because  her  solemn  assemblies 
are  scattered,  think  that  the  religion  is  lost,  and  the  church  divorced  from 
God,  supposing  Christ  (who  was  a  man  of  sorrows)  to  be  angry  with  his 
spouse  when  she  is  like  him  [for  that  is  the  true  state  of  the  error,]  and  that 
he,  who  promised  his  Spirit  to  assist  his  servants  in  their  troubles,  will,  be- 
cause they  are  in  trouble,  take  away  the  Comforter  from  them ;  who  cannot 
be  a  comforter,  but  while  he  cures  our  sadnesses,  and  relieves  our  sorrows, 
and  turns  our  persecutions  into  joys,  and  crowns,  and  sceptres.  But  concern- 
ing the  present  state  of  the  church  of  England,  I  consider,  that  because  we 
now  want  the  blessings  of  external  communion  in  many  degrees,  and 
the  circumstances  of  a  prosperous  and  unafflicted  people,  we  are  to  take 
estimate  of  ourselves  with  single  judgments,  and  every  man  is  to  give 
sentence  concernina;  the  state  of  his  own  soul  by  the  precepts  and  rules  of 

"  C  1 


u  DEDICATION. 

our  lawgiver,  not  by  the  after-decrees  and  usages  of  the  church ;  that  is,  by 
the  essential  parts  of  religion,  rather  than  by  the  uncertain  significations  ot 
any  exterior  adherences :  for  though  it  be  uncertain,  when  a  man  is  the 
member  of  a  church,  whether  he  be  a  member  to  Christ  or  no,  because  in 
the  church's  net  there  are  fishes  good  and  bad ;  yet  we  may  be  sure,  that, 
if  we  be  members  of  Christ,  we  are  of  a  church  to  all  purposes  of  spiritual 
rehgion  and  salvation;  and  in  order  to  this,  give  me  leave  to  speak  this 
great  truth. 

That  man  does  certainly  belong  to  God,  who,  1.  Believes  and  is  baptized 
into  all  the  articles  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  studies  to  improve  his  know- 
ledge in  the  matters  of  God,  so  as  may  best  make  him  to  live  a  holy  life. 

2.  He  that,  in  obedience  to  Christ,  worships  God  diligentlj',  frequently,  and 
constantly,  with  natural  religion,  thatis,  of  prayer,  praises,  and  thanksgiving. 

3.  He  that  takes  all  opportunities  to  remember  Christ's  death  by  a  frequent 
sacrament  (as  it  can  be  had :)  or  else  by  inward  acts  of  understanding,  will, 
and  memory  (which  is  the  spiritual  communion,)  supplies  the  want  of  the 
external  rite.  4.  He  that  lives  chastely;  5.  And  is  merciful ;  6.  And  despises 
the  world,  using  it  as  a  man,  but  never  suflfering  it  to  rifle  a  duty ;  7.  And 
is  just  in  his  dealing  and  diligent  in  his  calling.  8.  He  that  is  humble  in  his 
spirit,  9.  And  obedient  to  government,  10.  And  content  in  his  fortune  and 
employment.  11.  He  that  does  his  duty  because  he  loves  God;  12.  And 
especially,  if,  after  all  this,  he  be  aflHlicted,  and  patient,  or  prepared  to  suffer 
affliction  for  the  cause  of  God :  the  man  that  hath  these  twelve  signs  of  grace 
and  predestination,  does  as  certainly  belong  to  God,  and  is  his  son,  as  surely 
as  he  is  his  creature. 

And  if  my  brethren  in  persecution,  and  in  the  bonds  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
can  truly  show  these  marks,  they  shall  not  need  be  troubled,  that  others  can 
show  a  prosperous  outside,  great  revenues,  public  assemblies,  uninterrupted 
successions  of  bishops,  prevailing  armies,  or  any  arm  of  flesh,  or  less  certain 
circumstance.  These  are  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the  characters  of  a 
Christian :  this  is  a  good  religion ;  and  these  things  God's  grace  hath  put  into 
our  powers,  and  God's  laws  have  made  to  be  our  duty,  and  the  nature  of 
men,  and  the  needs  of  commonwealths,  have  made  to  be  necessary.  The 
otiier  accidents  and  pomps  of  a  church  are  things  without  our  power,  and 
are  not  in  our  choice ;  they  are  good  to  be  used,  when  they  may  be  had, 
and  they  help  to  illustrate  or  advantage  it :  but  if  any  of  them  constitute  a 
church  in  the  being  of  a  society  and  a  govenunent,  yet  they  are  not  of  its 
constitution,  as  it  is  Christian,  and  hopes  to  be  saved. 

And  now  the  case  is  so  with  us,  that  we  are  reduced  to  that  religion,  which 
no  man  can  forbid  ;  which  we  can  keep  in  the  midst  of  a  persecution ;  by 
which  the  martyrs,  in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  went  to  heaven;  that,  by 
which  we  can  be  servants  of  God,  and  receive  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and 
make  use  of  his  comforts,  and  live  in  his  love,  and  in  charity  with  all  men  : 
and  they  that  do  so,  cannot  perish. 

My  Lord.  I  have  now  described  some  general  lines  and  features  of  that 
religion,  which  I  have  more  particularly  set  down  in  the  following  pages: 
in  which  I  have  neither  served  nor  disserved  the  interest  of  any  party  of 
Christians,  as  they  are  divided  by  uncharitable  names  from  the  rest  of  their 
brethren:  and  no  man  will  have  reason  to  be  angry  with  me  for  refu.sing  to 
mingle  m  his  umiecessary  or  vicious  quarrels ;  especially  while  I  study  to 
do  him  good  by  conducting  him  in  the  narrow  way  to  heaven,  without 
intricating  him  in  the  labyrinths  and  wild  turning  of  questions  and  uncertain 
talkings.  I  have  told  what  men  ought  to  do,  and  by  what  means  they  may 
l>e  assisted ;  and  in  most  cases,  I  have  also  told  them  why :  and  yet  with  aa 
much  quickness,  as  I  could  think  necessary  to  establish  a  rule,  and  not  to 
engage  in  homily  or  discourse.  In  the  use  of  which  rules,  although  they 
are  pla'n,  useful,  and  fitted  for  the  best  and  worst  understandings,  and  for 
the  nerds  of  all  men,  yet  I  shall  desire  the  reader  to  proceed  with  the  fol- 
lowing advices. 


DEDICATION.  iii 

1.  They  that  will  with  profit  make  use  of  the  proper  instruments  of  virtue, 
must  so  live,  as  if  they  were  always  under  the  physician's  hand.  I'or  the 
counsels  of  religion  are  not  to  be  appHed  to  the  distempers  of  tlie  soul,  as 
men  used  to  take  hellebore ;  but  they  must  dwell  together  with  the  spirit  of 
a  man,  and  be  twisted  about  his  understanding  for  ever:  they  must  be  used 
like  nourishment,  that  is,  by  a  daily  care  and  meditation  ;  not  like  a  single 
medicine,  and  upon  the  actual  pressure  of  a  present  necessity.  Vor  counsels 
and  wise  discourses,  applied  to  an  actual  distemper,  at  the  best  are  but  like 
strong  smells  to  an  epileptic  person;  sometimes  they  may  raise  him,  but  they 
never  cure  him.  The  following  rules,  if  they  be  made  familiar  to  our 
natures  and  the  thoughts  of  every  day,  may  make  virtue  and  religion  become 
easy  and  habitual ;  but  w  hen  the  temptation  is  present,  and  hath  already 
seized  ujwn  some  portions  of  our  consent,  we  are  not  so  apt  to  be  counselled, 
and  we  lind  no  gust  or  relish  in  the  precept ;  the  lessons  are  the  same,  but 
the  instrument  is  unstrung  or  out  of  tune. 

2.  In  using  the  instruments  of  virtue,  we  must  be  curious  to  distinguish 
instruments  from  duties,  and  prudent  advices  from  necessary  injunctions  ; 
and  if  by  any  other  means  the  duty  can  be  secured,  let  there  be  no  scniples 
stirred  concerning  any  other  helps  :  only,  if  they  can,  in  that  case,  strengthen 
and  secure  the  duty,  or  help  towards  perseverance,  let  them  serve  in  that 
station  in  which  they  can  be  placed.  For  there  are  some  persons,  in  whom 
the  Spirit  of  God  hath  breathed  so  bright  a  flame  of  love,  that  they  do  all 
their  acts  of  virtue  by  perfect  choice  and  without  objection,  and  their  zeal  is 
w-armer,  than  tiiat  it  will  be  allayed  by  temptation :  and  to  such  persons 
mortification  by  philosophical  instruments,  as  fasting,  sackloth,  and  other 
rudenesses  to  the  body,  is  wholly  useless ;  it  is  always  a  more  uncertain 
means  to  acquire  any  virtue,  or  secure  any  duty ;  and  if  love  hath  filled  all 
the  corners  of  our  soul,  it  alone  is  able  to  do  all  the  work  of  God. 

3.  Be  not  nice  in  stating  the  obligations  of  religion ;  but  where  the  duty 
is  necessary,  and  the  means  very  reasonable  in  itself,  dispute  not  too  busily, 
whether,  in  all  circumstances,  it  can  fit  thy  particular ;  but  "super  totam 
materiam,"  upon  the  whole,  make  use  of  it.  For  it  is  a  good  sign  of  a  great 
religion,  and  no  imprudence,  when  we  have  sufficiently  considered  the 
substance  of  aflairs,  then  to  be  easy,  humble,  obedient,  apt,  and  credulous  in 
the  circumstances,  which  are  appointed  to  us,  in  particular,  by  our  spiritual 
guides ;  or,  in  general,  by  all  wise  men  in  cases  not  unlike.  He  that  gives 
alms,  does  best  not  always  to  consider  the  minutes  and  strict  measures  of 
his  ability,  but  to  give  freely,  incuriously,  and  abundantly.  A  man  must 
not  weigh  grains  in  the  accounts  of  his  repentance  ;  but  for  a  great  sin  have 
a  great  sorrow,  and  a  great  severity,  and  in  this  take  the  ordinary  advices  ; 
though,  it  may  be,  a  less  rigour  might  not  be  insufficient :  uy.eiHoSiy.xiov,  or 
arithmetical  measures,  especially  of  our  own  proportioning,  are  but  argu- 
ments of  want  of  love  and  of  forwardness  in  religion;  or  else  are  instruments 
of  scruple,  and  then  become  dangerous.  Use  the  rule  heartily  and  enough, 
and  there  will  be  no  harm  in  thy  error,  if  any  should  happen. 

4.  If  thou  intendest  heartily  to  serve  God,  and  avoid  sin  in  any  one  in- 
stance, refuse  not  the  hardest  and  most  severe  advice,  that  is  prescribed  in 
order  to  it,  though  possibly  it  be  a  stranger  to  thee ;  for  whatsoever  it  be, 
custom  will  make  it  easy. 

5.  When  many  instruments  for  the  obtaining  any  virtue,  or  restraining 
any  vice,  are  propounded,  observe  which  of  them  fits  thy  person,  or  the 
circumstances  of  thy  need,  and  use  it  rather  than  the  other ;  that  by  this 
means  thou  mayest  be  engaged  to  watch,  and  use  spiritual  arts  and  observa- 
tion about  thy  soul.  Concerning  the  managing  of  which,  as  the  interest  is 
greater,  so  the  necessities  are  more,  and  the  cases  more  intricate,  and  the 
accidents  and  dangers  greater  and  more  importunate  ;  and  there  is  greater 
skill  required,  than  in  the  securing  an  estate,  or  restoring  health  to  an  infirm 
JDody.  I  wish  all  men  in  the  world  did  heartily  believe  so  much  of  this,  as 
is  true ;  it  would  very  much  help  to  do  the  work  of  God. 


IV  DEDICATION. 

Thus,  my  Lord,  I  have  made  bold  by  your  hand  to  reach  out  this  little 
scroll  of  cautions  to  all  those,  who,  by  seeing  your  honoured  names  set  be- 
fore my  book,  shall,  by  the  fairness  of  such  a  frontispiece,  be  invited  to  look 
into  it.  I  must  confess,  it  cannot  but  look  like  a  design  in  me,  to  borrow 
your  name  and  beg  your  patronage  to  my  book,  that,  if  there  be  no  other 
worth  in  it,  yet  at  least  it  may  have  the  splendour  and  warmth  of  a  burning- 
glass,  which,  borrowing  a  flame  from  the  eye  of  Heaven,  sliines  and  bums 
by  the  rays  of  the  sun  its  patron.  I  will  not  quit  myself  from  the  suspicion : 
for  I  cannot  pretend  it  to  be  a  present  either  of  itself  fit  to  be  offered  to  such 
a  personage,  or  any  part  of  a  just  return ;  but  I  humbly  desire,  you  would 
own  it  for  an  acknowledgment  of  those  great  endearments  and  noblest 
usages,  you  have  past  upon  me :  but  so,  men  in  their  religion  give  a  piece  of 
gum,  or  the  fat  of  a  cheap  lamb,  in  sacrifice  to  Him,  that  gives  them  all  that 
they  have  or  need :  and  unless  He,  who  was  pleased  to  employ  your  Lord- 
ship, as  a  great  minister  of  his  providence,  in  making  a  promise  of  his  good  to 
me,  the  meanest  of  his  servants,  "  that  he  would  never  leave  me  nor  forsake 
me,"  shall  enable  me,  by  greater  services  of  religion,  to  pay  my  great  debt 
to  your  honour,  I  must  still  increase  my  score ;  since  I  shall  now  spend  as 
much  in  my  needs  of  pardon  for  this  boldness,  as  in  the  reception  of  those 
favours,  by  which  I  stand  accountable  to  your  Lordship  in  all  the  bands  of 
service  and  gratitude;  though  I  am,  in  the  deepest  sense  of  duty  and  affec- 
tion, my  most  honoured  Lord,  your  Honour's  most  obliged  and  most  humble 
Servant, 

JER.  TAYLOR. 


THE 

RULE  AND  EXERCISES 

OF 

HOLY   LIVING,   &c. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CONSIDERATION  OF  THE  GENERAL  INSTRUMENTS  AND  MEANS 
SERVING  TO  A  HOLY  LIFE,  BY  WAY  OF  INTRODUCTION. 

.  IT  is  necessary,  that  every  man  should  consider,  that, 
since  God  hath  given  him  an  excellent  nature,  wisdom, 
and  choice,  an  understanding  soul,  and  an  immortal  spirit, 
having  made  him  lord  over  the  beasts,  and  but  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels ;  he  hath  also  appointed  for  him  a  work 
and  a  service  great  enough  to  employ  those  abilities,  and 
hath  also  designed  him  to  a  state  of  life  after  this,  to  which 
he  can  only  arrive  by  that  service  and  obedience.  And 
therefore,  as  every  man  is  wholly  God's  own  portion  by  the 
title  of  creation,  so  all  our  labours  and  care,  all  our  powers 
and  faculties,  must  be  wholly  employed  in  the  service  of 
God,  even  all  the  days  of  our  life ;  that,  this  life  being 
ended,  we  may  live  with  him  for  ever. 

Neither  is  it  sufficient  that  we  think  of  the  service  of 
God  as  a  work  of  the  least  necessity,  or  of  small  employ- 
ment, but  that  it  be  done  by  us  as  God  intended  it ;  that  it 
be  done  with  great  earnestness  and  passion,  with  much  zeal 
and  desire  ;  that  we  refuse  no  labour  :  that  we  bestow  upon 
it  much  time ;  that  we  use  the  best  guides,  and  arrive  at 
the  end  of  glory  by  all  the  ways  of  grace,  of  prudence,  and 
religion. 

And  indeed,  if  we  consider  how  much  of  our  lives  is 
taken  up  by  the  needs  of  nature;  how  many  years  are 
wholly  spent,  before  we  come  to  any  use  of  reason :  how 
many  years  more,  before  that  reason  is  useful  to  us  to  any 
great  purposes;  how  imperfect  our  discourse  is  made  bv 
c  2  5  ■ 


6  INTRODUCTION  TO  HOLY  LIFE. 

our  evil  education,  false  principles,  ill  company,  bad  exam- 
ples, and  want  of  experience  ;  liow  many  parts  of  our 
wisest  and  best  years  are  spent  in  eating  and  sleeping,  in 
necessary  businesses  and  unnecessary  vanities,  m  worldly 
civilities  and  less  useful  circumstances,  in  the  learning  arts 
and  sciences,  languages  or  trades ;  that  little  portion  of 
hours,  that  is  left  for  the  practice  of  piety  and  religious 
walking  with  God,  is  so  short  and  trifling,  that,  were  not 
the  goodness  of  God  infinitely  great,  it  might  seem  unrea- 
sonable or  impossible  for  us  to  expect  of  him  eternal  joys 
in  heaven,  even  after  the  well  spending  those  few  minutes, 
which  are  left  for  God  and  God's  service,  after  we  have 
served  ourselves  and  our  own  occasions. 

And  yet  it  is  considerable,  that  the  fruit,  which  comes 
from  the  many  days  of  recreation  and  vanity,  is  very  little  ; 
and,  although  we  scatter  much,  yet  we  gather  but  little 
profit :  but  from  the  few  hours  we  spend  in  prayer  and  tho 
exercises  of  a  pious  life,  the  return  is  great  and  profitable  ; 
and  what  we  sow  in  the  minutes  and  spare  portions  of  a 
few  years,  grows  up  to  crowns  and  sceptres  in  a  happy  and 
a  glorious  eternity. 

1.  Therefore,  although  it  cannot  be  enjoined,  that  the 
greatest  part  of  our  time  be  spent  in  the  direct  actions  of 
devotion  and  religion,  yet  it  will  become,  not  only  a  duty, 
but  also  a  great  providence,  to  lay  aside  for  the  services  of 
God  and  the  business  of  the  Spirit,  as  much  as  we  can  ; 
because  God  rewards  our  minutes  with  long  and  eternal 
happiness  ;  and  the  greater  portion  of  our  time  we  give  to 
God,  the  more  we  treasure  up  for  ourselves ;  and  "  No  man 
is  a  better  merchant  than  he,  that  lays  out  his  time  upon 
God,  and  his  money  upon  the  poor." 

2.  Only  it  becomes  us  to  remember,  and  to  adore  God's 
goodness  for  it,  that  God  hath  not  only  permitted  us  to 
serve  the  necessities  of  our  nature,  but  hath  made  them  to 
become  parts  of  our  duty  ;  that  if  we,  by  directing  these 
actions  to  the  glory  of  God,  intend  them  as  instruments  to 
continue  our  persons  in  his  service,  he,  by  adopting  them 
into  religion,  may  turn  our  nature  into  grace,  and  accept 
our  natural  actions  as  actions  of  religion.  God  is  pleased 
to  esteem  it  for  a  part  of  his  service,  if  we  eat  or  drink ;  so 
it  be  done  temperately,  and  as  may  best  preserve  our  health, 
that  our  health  may  enable  our  services  towards  him  :  and 
there  is  no  one  minute  of  our  lives  (after  we  are  come  to 


CARE  OF  OUR  TIME.  7 

the  use  of  reason,)  but  we  are  or  may  be  doing  the  work 
of  God,  even  then,  when  we  most  of  all  serve  ourselves. 

3.  To  which  if  we  add,  that  in  these  and  all  other  actions 
of  our  lives  we  always  stand  before  God,  acting  and  speak- 
ing, and  thinking  in  his  presence,  and  that  it  matters  not 
that  our  conscience  is  sealed  with  secrecy,  since  it  lies  open 
to  God ;  it  will  concern  us  to  behave  ourselves  carefully, 
as  in  the  presence  of  our  judge. 

These  three  considerations  rightly  managed,  and  applied 
to  the  several  parts  and  instances  of  our  lives,  will  be  like 
Elisha,  stretched  upon  the  child,  apt  to  put  life  and  quick- 
ness into  every  part  of  it,  and  to  make  us  live  the  life  of 
grace,  and  do  the  work  of  God. 

I  shall  therefore,  by  way  of  introduction,  reduce  these 
three  to  practice,  and  show  how  every  Christian  may  im- 
prove all  and  each  of  these  to  the  advantage  of  piety,  in 
the  whole  course  of  his  life ;  that  if  he  please  to  bear  but 
one  of  them  upon  his  spirit,  he  may  feel  the  benefit,  like 
a  universal  instrument,  helpful  in  all  spiritual  and  temporal 
actions. 

SECTION  I. 

The  first  general  instrument  of  holy  Living, 
Care  of  our  Time. 

He  that  is  choice  of  his  time,  will  also  be  choice  of  his 
company,  and  choice  of  his  actions  :  lest  the  first  engage 
him  in  vanity  and  loss  ;  and  the  latter,  by  being  criminal, 
l)e  a  throwing  his  time  and  himself  away,  and  a  going  back 
in  the  accounts  of  eternity. 

God  has  given  to  man  a  short  time  here  upon  earth,  and 
yet  upon  this  short  time  eternity  depends :  but  so,  that  for 
every  hour  of  our  life  (after  we  are  persons  capable  of  laws, 
and  know  good  from  evil)  we  must  give  account  to  the 
great  Judge  of  men  and  angels.  And  this  is  it  which  our 
blessed  Saviour  told  us,  that  we  must  account  for  every 
idle  word ;  not  meaning  that  every  word,  which  is  not  de- 
signed to  edification,  or  is  less  prudent,  shall  be  reckoned 
for  a  sin  ;  but  that  the  time,  which  we  spend  in  our  idle 
talking  and  unprofitable  discoursings,  that  time,  which  might 
and  ought  to  have  been  employed  to  spiritual  and  useful 
purposes  ;  that  is  to  be  accounted  for. 

For  we  must  remember,  that  we  have  a  great  work  to  do, 
many  enemies  to  conquer,  many  evils  to  prevent,  much 


8  CARE  OF  OUR  TIME. 

danger  to  run  through,  many  difficultios  to  be  mastered, 
many  necessities  to  serve,  and  much  good  to  do,  many  chil- 
dren to  provide  for,  or  many  friends  to  support,  or  many 
poor  to  relieve,  or  many  diseases  to  cure,  besides  the  needs 
of  nature  and  of  relation,  our  private  and  our  public  cares, 
and  duties  of  the  world,  which  necessity  and  the  providence 
of  God  have  adopted  into  the  family  of  religion. 

And  that  we  need  not  fear  this  instrument  to  be  a  snare 
to  us,  or  that  the  duty  must  end  in  scruple,  vexation,  and 
eternal  fears,  we  must  remember,  that  the  life  of  every  man 
may  be  so  ordered  (and  indeed  must,)  that  it  may  be  a  per- 
petual serving  of  God  :  the  greatest  trouble  and  most  busy 
trade  and  worldly  incumbrances,  when  they  are  necessary, 
or  charitable,  or  profitable  in  order  to  any  of  those  ends, 
which  we  are  bound  to  serve,  whether  public  or  private, 
being  a  doing  God's  work.  For  God  provides  the  good 
things  of  the  world  to  serve  the  needs  of  nature,  by  the 
labours  of  the  ploughman,  the  skill  and  pains  of  the  artisan, 
and  the  dangers  and  traffic  of  the  merchant :  these  men 
are,  in  their  callings,  the  ministers  of  the  Divine  Providence, 
and  the  stewards  of  the  creation,  and  servants  of  a  great 
family  of  God,  the  world,  in  the  employment  of  procuring 
necessaries  for  food  and  clothing,  ornament,  and  physic. 
In  their  proportions,  also,  a  king,  and  a  priest  and  a  prophet, 
a  judge  and  an  advocate,  doing  the  works  of  their  employ- 
ment, according  to  their  proper  rules,  are  doing  the  w^ork  of 
God,  because  they  serve  those  necessities,  which  God  hath 
made,  and  yet  made  no  provisions  for  them,  but  by  their  mi- 
nistry. So  that  no  man  can  complain,  that  his  calling  takes 
him  off  from  religion  ;  his  calling  itself  and  his  very  worldly 
employment  in  honest  trade  and  offices  is  a  serving  of  God  ; 
and,  if  it  be  moderately  pursued  and  according  to  the  rules 
of  Christian  prudence,  will  leave  void  spaces  enough  for 
prayers  and  retirements  of  a  more  spiritual  religion. 

God  hath  given  every  man  work  enough  to  do,  that  there 
shall  be  no  room  for  idleness ;  and  yet  hath  so  ordered  the 
world,  that  there  shall  be  space  for  devotion.  He,  that 
hath  the  fewest  businesses  of  the  world,  is  called  upon  to 
spend  more  time  in  the  dressing  of  his  soul ;  and  he,  that 
hath  the  most  affairs,  may  so  order  them,  that  they  shall  be  a 
service  of  God ;  whilst,  at  certain  periods,  they  are  blessed 
with  prayers  and  actions  of  religion,  and  all  day  long  are 
hallowed  by  a  holy  intention. 


CARE  OF  OUR  TIME.  9 

However,  so  long  as  idleness  is  quite  shut  out  from  our 
lives,  all  the  sins  of  wantonness,  softness,  and  effeminacy, 
are  prevented,  and  there  is  but  little  room  left  for  tempta- 
tion ;  and  therefore,  to  a  busy  man,  temptation  is  fain  to 
climb  up  together  with  his  business,  and  sins  creep  upon 
him  only  by  accidents  and  occasions;  whereas,  to  an  idle 
person,  they  come  in  a  full  body,  and  with  open  violence 
and  the  impudence  of  a  restless  importunity. 

Idleness  is  called  "  the  sin  of  Sodom  and  her  daugh- 
ters,"* and  indeed  is  "  the  burial  of  a  living  man  ;"  an  idle 
person  being  so  useless  to  any  purposes  of  God  and  man, 
that  he  is  like  one  that  is  dead,  unconcerned  in  the  changes 
and  necessities  of  the  world ;  and  he  only  lives  to  spend 
his  time,  and  eat  the  fruits  of  the  earth  :  like  a  vermin  or 
a  wolf,  when  their  time  comes,  they  die  and  perish,  and  in 
the  mean  time,  do  no  good ;  they  neither  plough  nor  carry 
burthens  ;  all  that  they  do  is  either  unprofitable  or  mis- 
chievous. 

Idleness  is  the  greatest  prodigality  in  the  world  :  it 
throws  away  that,  which  is  invaluable  in  respect  of  its  pre- 
sent use,  and  irreparable  when  it  is  past,  being  to  be  reco- 
vered by  no  power  of  art  or  nature.  But  the  way  to  secure 
and  improve  our  time  we  may  practice  iii  the  following 
rules. 

Rules  for  employing  our  Time* 

1.  In  the  morning,  when  you  awake,  accustom  yourself 
to  think  first  upon  God,  or  something  in  order  to  his  ser- 
vice ;  and  at  night  also,  let  him  close  thine  eyes :  and  let 
your  sleep  be  necessary  and  healthful,  not  idle  and  expen- 
sive of  time,  beyond  the  needs  and  conveniences  of  nature  ; 
and  sometimes  be  curious  to  see  the  preparation,  which  the 
sun  makes,  when  he  is  coming  forth  from  his  chambers  of 
the  east. 

2.  Let  every  man  that  hath  a  calling,  be  diligent  in  pur- 
suance of  its  employment,  so  as  not  lightly  or  without 
reasonable  occasion  to  neglect  it  in  any  of  those  times, 
which  are  usually,  and  by  the  custom  of  prudent  persons 
and  good  husbands,  employed  in  it. 

3.  Let  all  the  intervals  or  void  spaces  of  time  be  em- 
ployed in  prayers,  reading,  meditating,  works  of  nature, 
recreation,  charity,  friendliness,  and  neighbourhood,  and 
means  of  spiritual  and  corporal  health ;  ever  remembering 

*  Ezek.  xvi.  49. 


10  CARE  OF  OUR  TIME. 

SO  to  work  in  our  calling-,  as  not  to  neglect  the  work  of  our 
high  calling ;  but  to  begin  and  end  the  day  with  God,  with 
such  forms  of  devotion  as  shall  be  proper  to  our  necessities. 

4.  The  resting  days  of  Christians,  and  festivals  of  the 
church,  must,  in  no  sense,  be  days  of  idleness  ;  for  it  is 
better  to  plough  upon  holy  days,  than  to  do  nothing  or  to 
do  viciously :  but  let  them  be  spent  in  the  works  of  the 
day,  that  is,  of  religion  and  charity,  according  to  the  rules 
appointed.* 

5.  Avoid  the  company  of  drunkards  and  busy  bodies, 
and  all  such  as  are  apt  to  talk  much  to  little  purpose  :  for 
no  man  can  be  provident  of  his  time,  that  is  not  prudent 
in  the  choice  of  his  company  ;  and  if  one  of  the  speakers 
be  vain,  tedious,  and  trifling,  he  that  hears,  and  he  that  an- 
swers, in  the  discourse,  are  equal  losers  of  their  time. 

6.  Never  talk  with  any  man,  or  undertake  any  trifling 
employment,  merely  to  pass  the  time  away  ;  for  every  day 
well  spent  may  become  a  "day  of  salvation,"  and  time 
rightly  employed  is  an  "  acceptable  time."  And  remember, 
that  the  time  thou  triflest  away,  was  given  thee  to  repent 
in,  to  pray  for  pardon  of  sins,  to  work  out  thy  salvation,  to 
do  the  work  of  grace,  to  lay  up  against  the  day  of  judgment 
a  treasure  of  good  works,  that  thy  time  may  be  crowned 
with  eternity. 

7.  In  the  midst  of  the  works  of  thy  calling,  often  retire 
to  God  in  short  prayers  and  ejaculations ;  and  those  may 
make  up  the  want  of  those  larger  portions  of  time,  which, 
it  may  be,  thou  desirest  for  devotion,  and  in  which  thou 
tliinkest  other  persons  have  advantage  of  thee ;  for  so  thou 
reconcilest  the  outward  work  and  thy  inward  calling,  the 
church  and  the  commonwealth,  the  employment  of  the  body 
and  the  interest  of  thy  soul :  for  be  sure,  that  God  is  pre- 
sent at  thy  breathings  and  hearty  sighings  of  prayer,  as 
soon  as  at  the  longer  offices  of  less  busied  persons ;  and 
thy  time  is  as  truly  sanctified  by  a  trade,  and  devout  though 
shorter  prayers,  as  by  the  longer  offices  of  those,  whose 
time  is  not  filled  up  with  labour  and  useful  business. 

8.  Let  your  employment  be  such,  as  may  become  a  rea- 
sonable person  ;  and  not  be  a  business  fit  for  children  or 
distracted  people,  but  fit  for  your  age  and  understanding. 
For  a  man  may  be  very  idly  busy,  and  take  great  pains  to 
SO  little  purpose,  that,  in  his  labour  and  expense  of  time, 

*  See  Chap.  iv.  Sect.  6. 


CARE  OF  OUR  TIME.  H 

he  shall  serve  no  end  but  of  folly  and  vanity.  There  are  some 
trades,  that  wholly  serve  the  ends  of  idle  persons  and  fools, 
and  such  as  are  fit  to  be  seized  upon  by  the  severity  of  laws, 
and  banished  from  under  the  sun  ;  and  there  are  some  people 
who  are  busy ;  but  it  is,  as  Domitian  was,  in  catching  flies. 

9.  Let  your  employment  be  fitted  to  your  person  and 
calling.  Some  there  are,  that  employ  their  time  in  affairs 
infinitely  below  the  dignity  of  their  person  ;  and  being 
called  by  God  or  by  the  republic,  to  help  to  bear  great 
burdens,  and  to  judge  a  people,  do  enfeeble  their  under- 
standings, and  disable  their  persons  by  sordid  and  brutish 
business.  Thus  Nero  went  up  and  down  Greece,  and 
challenged  the  fiddlers  at  their  trade,  ^ropus,  a  Mace- 
donian king,  made  lanterns.  Harcatius,  the  king  of  Par- 
thia,  was  a  mole-catcher :  and  Biantes,  the  Lydian,  filed 
needles.  He,  that  is  appointed  to  minister  in  holy  things, 
must  not  suffer  secular  affairs  and  sordid  arts  to  eat  up 
great  portions  of  his  employment :  a  clergyman  must  not 
keep  a  tavern,  nor  a  judge  be  an  innkeeper  :  and  it  was  a 
great  idleness  in  Theophylact,  the  patriarch  of  C.  P.  to 
spend  his  time  in  his  stable  of  horses,  when  he  should  have 
been  in  his  study,  or  the  pulpit,  or  saying  his  holy  ofl[ices. 
Such  employments  are  the  diseases  of  labour,  and  the  rust 
pf  time,  which  it  contracts,  not  by  lying  still,  but  by  dirty 
employment. 

10.  Let  your  employment  be  such  as  becomes  a  Chris- 
tian ;  that  is,  in  no  sense,  mingled  with  sin :  for  he  that 
takes  pains  to  serve  the  ends  of  covetousness,  or  ministers 
to  another's  lust,  or  keeps  a  shop  of  impurities  or  intem- 
perance, is  idle  in  the  worst  sense  ;  for  every  hour  so  spent, 
runs  him  backward,  and  must  be  spent  again  in  the  remain- 
ing and  shorter  part  of  his  life,  and  spent  better. 

11.  Persons  of  great  quality,  and  of  no  trade,  are  to  be 
most  prudent  and  curious  in  their  employment  and  traffic 
of  time.  They  are  miserable,  if  their  education  hath  been 
so  loose  and  undisciplined,  as  to  leave  them  unfurnished  of 
skill  to  spend  their  time  :  but  most  miserable  are  they,  if 
such  misgovernment  and  unskilfulness  make  them  fall  into 
vicious  and  baser  company,  and  drive  on  their  time  by  the 
sad  minutes  and  periods  of  sin  and  death.  They  that  are 
learned,  know  the  worth  of  time,  and  the  manner  how  well 
to  improve  a  day  ;  and  they  are  to  prepare  themselves  for 
such  purposes,  in  which  they  may  be  most  useful  in  order 


12  CARE  OF  OUR  TLME 

to  arts  or  arms,  to  counsel  in  public,  or  government  in  their 
country :  but  for  others  of  them,  that  are  unlearned,  let 
them  choose  good  company,  such  as  may  not  tempt  them 
to  a  vice,  or  join  with  them  in  any ;  but  that  may  supply 
their  defects  by  counsel  and  discourse,  by  way  of  conduct 
and  conversation.  Let  them  learn  easy  and  useful  things, 
read  history  and  the  laws  of  the  land,  learn  the  customs 
of  their  country,  the  condition  of  their  own  estate,  profit- 
able and  charitable  contrivances  of  it :  let  them  study 
prudently  to  govern  their  families,  learn  the  burdens  of 
their  tenants,  the  necessities  of  their  neighbours,  and  in 
their  proportion  supply  them,  and  reconcile  their  enmities, 
and  prevent  their  lawsuits,  or  quickly  end  them ;  and  in 
this  glut  of  leisure  and  disemployment,  let  them  set  apart 
greater  portions  of  their  time  for  religion  and  the  neces- 
sities of  their  souls. 

12.  Let  the  women  of  noble  birth  and  great  fortunes  do 
the  same  things  in  their  proportions  and  capacities,  nurse 
their  children,  look  to  the  affairs  of  the  house,  visit  poor 
cottagers,  and  relieve  their  necessities,  be  courteous  to  the 
neighbourhood,  learn  in  silence  of  their  husbands  or  their 
spiritual  guides,  read  good  books,  pray  often  and  speak 
little,  and  "  learn  to  do  good  works  for  necessary  uses ;" 
for,  by  that  phrase,  St.  Paul  expresses  the  obligation  of 
Christian  women  to  good  housewiferv,  and  charitable  pro- 
visions for  their  family  and  neighbomnood. 

13.  Let  all  persons  of  all  conditions  avoid  all  delicacy 
and  niceness  in  their  clothing  or  diet,  because  such  soft- 
ness engages  them  upon  great  mispendings  of  their  time, 
while  they  dress  and  comb  out  all  their  opportunities  of 
their  morning  devotion,  and  half  the  day's  severity,  and 
sleep  out  the  care  and  provision  for  their  souls. 

14.  Let  every  one  of  every  condition  avoid  curiosity,  and 
all  inquiry  into  things  that  concern  them  not.  For  all 
business  in  things,  that  concern  us  not,  is  an  employing 
our  time  to  no  good  of  ours,  and  therefore  not  in  order  to 
a  happy  eternity.  In  this  account  our  neighbours'  neces- 
sities are  not  to  be  reckoned  ;  for  they  concern  us,  as  one 
member  is  concerned  in  the  grief  of  another ;  but  going 
from  house  to  house,  tattlers  and  busy-bodies,  which  are 
the  canker  and  rust  of  idleness,  as  idleness  is  the  rust  of 
time,  are  reproved  by  the  apostle  in  severe  language,  and 
forbidden  in  order  to  this  exercise. 


CARE  OF  OUR  TIME.  13 

15.  As  much  as  may  be,  cut  off  all  impertinent  and  useless 
employments  of  your  life,  unnecessary  and  fantastic  visits, 
long  waitings  upon  great  personages,  where  neither  duty, 
nor  necessity,  nor  charity  obliges  us  ;  all  vain  meetings,  all 
laborous  trifles,. and  whatsoever  spenc^s  much  time  to  no  real, 
civil,  religious,  or  charitable  purpose. 

16.  Let  not  your  recreations  be  lavish  spenders  of  your 
time  ;  but  choose  such  which  are  healthful,  short,  transient, 
recreative,  and  apt  to  refresh  you :  but  at  no  hand  dwell 
upon  them,  or  make  them  your  great  employment :  for  he 
that  spends  his  time  in  sports,  and  calls  it  recreation,  is  like 
him  whose  garment  is  all  made  of  fringes,  and  his  meat 
nothing  but  sauces;  they  are  healthless,  chargeable,  and 
useless.  And  therefore  avoid  such  games,  which  require 
much  time,  or  long  attendance ;  or  which  are  a})t  to  steal 
thy  affections  from  more  severe  employments.  For  to 
whatsoever  thou  hast  given  thy  affections,  thou  wilt  not 
grudge  to  give  thy  time.  Natural  necessity  and  the  ex- 
ample of  St.  John,  who  recreated  himself  with  sporting  with 
a  tame  partridge,  teach  us,  that  it  is  lawful  to  relax  and 
unbend  our  bow,  but  riot  to  suffer  it  to  be  unready  or  un- 
strung. 

17.  Set  apart  some  portions  of  every  day  for  more  so- 
lemn devotion  and  religious  employment,  which  be  severe 
in  observing  :  and  if  variety  of  employment,  or  prudent  af- 
fairs, or  civil  society,  press  upon  you,  yet  so  order  thy  rule, 
that  the  necessary  parts  of  it  be  not  omitted ;  and  though 
just  occasions  may  make  our  prayers  shorter,  yet  let  no- 
thing "but  a  violent,  sudden,  and  impatient  necessity,  make 
thee,  upon  any  one  day,  wholly  to  omit  thy  morning  and 
evening  devotions ;  which  if  you  be  forced  to  make  very 
short,  you  may  supply  and  lengthen  with  ejaculations  and 
short  retirements  in  the  day-time,  in  the  midst  of  your  em- 
ployment or  of  your  company. 

18.  Do  not  the  "work  of  God  negligently"*  and  idly; 
let  not  thy  heart  be  upon  the  world,  when  thy  hand  is  lift 
up  in  prayer  ;  and  be  sure  to  prefer  an  action  of  religion,  in 
its  place  and  proper  season,  before  all  worldly  pleasure, 
letting  secular  things,  that  may  be  dispensed  with  in  them- 
selves, in  these  circumstances  wait  upon  the  other:  not 
like  the  patriarch,  who  ran  fl'om  the  altar  in  St.  Sophia  to 
his  stable,  in  all  his  pontificals,  and  in  the  midst  of  his 

*  Jer.  xlviii.  10. 

D 


14  CARE  OF  OUR  TIME. 

office,  to  see  a  colt  newly  fallen  from  his  beloved  and  much- 
valued  mare  Phorbante.  More  prudent  and  severe  was 
that  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  who,  being  sent  for  by  the  king, 
when  he  was  at  his  prayers  in  public,  returned  answer,  he 
would  attend  him,  when  he  had  first  performed  his  service 
to  the  King  of  kings.  And  it  did  honour  to  Rusticus,  that, 
when  letters  from  Cassar  were  given  to  him,  he  refused  to 
open  them,  till  the  philosopher  had  done  his  lecture.  In 
honouring  God  and  doing  his  work,  put  forth  all  thy 
strength;  for  of  that  time  only  thou  mayest  be  most  con- 
fident that  it  is  gained,  which  is  prudently  and  zealously 
spent  in  God's  service. 

19.  When  the  clock  strikes,  or  however  else  you  shall 
measure  the  day,  it  is  good  to  say  a  short  ejaculation  every 
hour,  that  the  parts  and  returns  of  devotion  may  be  the 
measure  of  your  time :  and  do  so  also  in  all  the  breaches 
of  thy  sleep ;  that  those  spaces,  which  have  in  them  no  di- 
rect business  of  the  world,  may  be  filled  with  religion. 

20.  If,  by  thus  doing,  you  have  not  secured  your  time 
by  an  early  and  fore-handed  care,  yet  be  sure  by  a  timely 
diligence  to  redeem  the  time,  that  is,  to  be  pious  and  reli- 
gious in  such  instances,  in  which  formerly  you  have  sinned, 
and  to  bestow  your  time  especially  upon  such  graces,  the 
contrary  whereof  you  have  formerly  practised,  doing  actions 
of  chastity  and  temperance  with  as  great  a  zeal  and  earnest- 
ness, as  you  did  once  act  your  uncleanness  ;  and  then,  by 
all  arts,  to  watch  against  your  present  and  future  dangers, 
from  day  to  day  securing  your  standing ;  this  is  properly  to 
redeem  your  time,  that  is,  to  buy  your  security  of  it,  at  the 
rate  of  any  labour  and  honest  arts. 

21.  Let  him,  that  is  most  busied,  set  apart  some  "so- 
lemn time  every  year,"*  in  which,  for  the  time,  quitting  all 
worldly  business,  he  may  attend  wholly  to  fasting  and  prayer, 
and  the  dressing  of  his  soul  by  confessions,  meditations,  and 
attendances  upon  God ;  that  he  may  make  up  his  accounts, 
renew  his  vows,  make  amends  for  his  carelessness,  and  retire 
back  again,  from  whence  levity  and  the  vanities  of  the  world, 
or  the  opportunity  of  temptations,  or  the  distraction  of  secu- 
lar affairs,  have  carried  him. 

22.  In  this  we  shall  be  much  assisted,  and  we  shall  find 
the  work  more  easy,  if,  before  we  sleep,  every  night  we  ex- 
amine the  actions  of  the  past  day  with  a  particular  scru- 

*  1  Cor.  vii.  5, 


CARE  OF  OUR  TIME.  15 

tiny,  if  there  have  been  any  accident  extraordinary ;  as 
long  discourse,  a  feast,  much  business,  variety  of  com- 
pany. If  nothing  but  common  hath  happened,  the  less 
examination  will  suffice :  only  let  us  take  care,  that  we 
^^p  not  without  such  a  recollection  of  the  actions  of  the 
mP  as  may  represent  any  thing  that  is  remarkable  and 
great,  either  to  be  the  matter  of  sorrow  or  thanksgiving :  for 
other  things  a  general  care  is  proportionable. 

23.  Let  all  these  things  be  done  prudently  and  mode- 
rately, not  with  scruple  and  vexation.  For  these  are  good 
advantages,  but  the  particulars  are  not  divine  command- 
ments ;  and  therefore  are  to  be  used,  as  shall  be  found 
expedient  to  every  one's  condition.  For,  provided  that 
our  duty  be  secured,  for  the  degrees  and  for  the  instruments 
every  man  is  permitted  to  himself  and  the  conduct  of  such 
who  shall  be  appointed  to  him.  He  is  happy,  that  can  se- 
cure every  hour  to  a  sober  or  a  pious  employment :  but 
the  duty  consists  not  scrupulously  in  minutes  and  half 
hours,  but  in  greater  portions  of  time ;  provided  that  no 
tninute  be  employed  in  sin,  and  the  great  portions  of  our 
time  be  spent  in  sober  employment,  and  all  the  appointed 
days,  and  some  portions  of  every  day,  be  allowed  for  reli- 
gion. In  all  the  lesser  parts  of  time,  we  are  left  to  our 
own  elections  and  prudent  management,  and  to  the  consi- 
deration of  the  great  degrees  and  differences  of  glory,  that 
are  laid  up  in  heaven  for  us,  according  to  the  degrees  of  our 
care,  and  piety,  and  diligence. 

The  Bejiejfits  of  this  Exercise. 

This  exercise,  besides  that  it  hath  influence  upon  our 
whole  lives,  it  hath  a  special  efficacy  for  the  preventing  of, 
1.  Beggarly  sins,  that  is,  those  sins  which  idleness  and 
beggary  usually  betray  men  to ;  such  as  are  lying,  flattery, 
stealing,  and  dissimulation.  2.  It  is  a  proper  antidote 
against  carnal  sins,  and  such  as  proceed  from  fulness  of 
bread  and  emptiness  of  employment.  3.  It  is  a  great  in- 
strument of  preventing  the  smallest  sins  and  irregularities 
of  our  life,  which  usually  creep  upon  idle,  disemployed, 
and  curious  persons.  4.  It  not  only  teaches  us  to  avoid 
evil,  but  engages  us  upon  doing  good,  as  the  proper  busi- 
ness of  all  our  days.  5.  It  prepares  us  so  against  sudden 
changes,  that  we  shall  not  easily  be  surprised  at  the  sud- 
den coming  of  the  day  of  the  Lord :  for  he,  that  is  curious 
of  his  time,  will  not  easily  be  unready  and  unfurnished. 


16  PURITY  OF  INTENTION. 


SECTION  II. 


The  second  general  instrument  of  holy  Living, 

Purity  of  Intention.  ^ 

That  we  should  intend  and  design  God's  glory  in  e^V 
action  we  do,  whether  it  be  natural  or  chosen,  is  ex- 
pressed by  St.  Paul,*  "  Whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  do  all  to 
the  glory  of  God."  Which  rule  when  we  observe,  every 
action  of  nature  becomes  religious,  and  every  meal  is  an 
act  of  worship,  and  shall  have  its  reward  in  its  propor- 
tion, as  well  as  an  act  of  prayer.  Blessed  be  that  good- 
ness and  grac:  of  God,  which,  out  of  infinite  desire  to  glo- 
rify and  save  mankind,  would  make  the  very  works  of  na- 
ture capable  of  becoming  acts  of  virtue,  that  all  our  life- 
time we  may  do  him  service. 

This  grace  is  so  excellent,  that  it  sanctifies  the  most  com- 
mon action  of  our  life  ;  and  yet  so  necessary,  that,  without 
it,  the  very  best  actions  of  our  devotion  are  imperfect  and 
vicious.  For  he  that  prays  out  of  custom,  or  gives  alms 
for  praise,  or  fasts  to  be  accounted  religious,  is  but  a  pha- 
risee  in  his  devotion,  and  a  beggar  in  his  alms,  and  a  hy- 
pocrite in  his  fast.  But  a  holy  end  sacrifices  all  these 
and  all  other  actions,  which  can  be  made  holy,  and  gives 
distinctions  to  them,  and  procures  acceptance. 

For,  as  to  know  the  end  distinguishes  a  man  from  a 
beast,  so  to  choose  a  good  end  distinguishes  him  from  an 
evil  man.  Hezekiah  repeated  his  good  deeds  upon  his  sick 
bed,  and  obtained  favour  of  God,  but  the  pharisee  was 
accounted  insolent  for  doing  the  same  thing ;  because  this 
man  did  it  to  upbraid  his  brother,  the  other  to  obtain  a 
mercy  of  God.  Zacharias  questioned  with  the  angel  about 
his  message,  and  was  made  speechless  for  his  incredulity; 
but  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary  questioned  too,  and  was  blame- 
less ;  for  she  did  it  to  inquire  after  the  manner  of  the  thing, 
.but  he  did  not  believe  the  tiling  itself:  he  doubted  of 
God's  power,  or  the  truth  of.  the  messenger  ;  but  she,  only 
of  her  own  incapacity.  This  was  it,  which  distinguished  the 
mourning  of  David  from  the  exclamation  of  Saul ;  the  con- 
fession of  Pharaoh  from  that  of  Manasses ;  the  tears  of 
Peter  from  the  repentance  of  Judas ;  "  for  the  praise  is 
not  in  the  deed  done,  but  in  the  manner  of  its- doing.  If 
*  1  Cor.  X.  31. 


PURITY  OF  INTENTION.  17 

a  man  visits  his  sick  friend,  and  watclies  at  his  pillow  for 
charity's  sake,  and  because  of  his  old  aflection,  we  approve 
it :  but  if  he  does  it  in  hope  of  legacy,  he  is  a  vulture,  and 
only  watches  for  the  carcass.  The  same  things  are  honest 
and  dishonest :  the  manner  of  doing  them,  and  the  end  of 
the  design,  makes  the  separation." 

Holy  intention  is  to  the  actions  of  a  man  that  which  the 
soul  is  to  the  body,  or  form  to  its  matter  or  the  root  to 
tlie  tree,  or  the  sun  to  the  world,  or  the  fountain  to  a  river, 
or  the  base  to  a  pillar :  for,  without  these,  the  body  is  a 
dead  trurfk,  the  matter  is  sluggish,  the  tree  is  a  block, 
the  world  is  darkness,  the  river  is  quickly  dry,  the  pillar 
rushes  into  flatness  and  a  ruin ;  arid  the  action  is  sinful,  or 
unprofitable  and  vain.  The  poor  farmer,  that  gave  a  dish 
of  cold  water  to  Artaxerxes,  was  rewarded  with  a  golden 
goblet ;  and  he  that  gives  the  same  to  a  disciple  in  the  name 
of  a  disciple,  shall  have  a  crown :  but  if  he  gives  water  in 
despite,  when  the  disciple  needs  wine  or  a  cordial,  his  re- 
ward shall  be,  to  want  that  water  to  cool  his  tongue. 

But  this  duty  must  be  reduced  to  rules  : — 

Rules  for  our  Intentions, 

1.  In  every  action  reflect  upon  the  end:  and  in  your  un- 
dertaking it,  consider  why  you  do  it,  and  what  you  propound 
to  yourself  for  a  reward,  and  to  your  action  as  its  end. 

2.  Begin  every  actipn  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  the  meaning  of  which  is,  1. 
That  we  be  careful,  that  we  do  not  the  action  without  the 
permission  or  warrant  of  God.  2.  That  we  design  it  to  the 
glory  of  God,  if  not  in  the  direct  action,  yet  at  least  in  its 
consequence ;  if  not  in  the  particular,  yet  at  least  in  the 
whole  order  of  things  and  accidents.  3.  That  it  may  be 
so  blessed,  that  what  you  intend  for  innocent  and  holy 
purposes,  may  not,  by  any  chance,  or  abuse,  or  misunder- 
standing of  men,  be  turned  into  evil,  or  made  the  occasion 
of  sin. 

3.  Let  every  action  of  concernment  be  begun  with  prayer, 
that  God  would  not  only  bless  the  action,  but  sanctify  your 
purpose  :  and  make  an  oblation  of  the  action  to  God :  holy 
and  well  intended  actions  being  the  best  oblations  and 
presents  we  can  make  to  God ;  and,  when  God  is  entitled 
to  them,  he  will  the  rather  keep  the  fire  upon  the  altar 
bright  and  shining. 

d2 


18  PURITY  OF  INTENTION. 

4.  In  the  prosecution  of  the  action,  renew  and  re-enkindle 
your  purpose  by  short  ejaculations  to  these  purposes : 
"  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name,  let 
all  praise  be  given :"  and  consider  "Now  I  am  working  the 
work  of  God  :  I  am  his  servant,  I  am  in  a  happy  employ- 
ment, I  am  doing  my  master's  business,  I  am  not  at  my  own 
dispose,  I  am  using  his  talents,  and  all  the  gain  must  be 
his  :"  for  then  be  sure,  as  the  glory  is  his,  so  the  reward 
shall  be  thine.  If  thou  bringest  his  goods  home  with  in- 
crease, he  will  make  thee  ruler  over  cities. 

5.  Have  a  care,  that,  while  the  altar  thus  sends  up  a 
holy  fume,  thou  dost  not  suffer  the  birds  to  come  and  carry 
away  the -sacrifice  :  that  is,  let  not  that,  which  began  well, 
and  was  intended  for  God's  glory,  decline  and  end  in  thy 
own  praise,  or  temporal  satisfaction,  or  a  sin.  A  story, 
told  to  represent  the  vileness  of  unchastity,  is  well  begun  ; 
but  if  thy  female  auditor  be  pleased  with  thy  language,  and 
begins  rather  to  like  thy  person  for  thy  story,  than  to  dis- 
like the  crime,  be  watchful,  lest  this  goodly  head  of  gold 
descend  in  silver  and  brass,  and  end  in  iron  and  clay,  like 
Nebuchadnezzar's  image  ;  for  from  the  end  it  shall  have  its 
name  and  reward. 

6.  If  any  accidental  event,  which  was  not  first  intended 
by  thee,  can  come  to  pass,  let  it  not  be  taken  into  thy  pur- 
poses, not  at  all  be  made  use  of ;  as  if,  by  telling  a  true 
story,  you  can  do  an  ill  turn  to  your  enemy,  by  no  means 
do  it ;  but,  when  the  temptation  is  found  out,  turn  all  thy 
enmity  upon  that. 

7.  In  every  more  solemn  action  of  religion,  join  toge- 
ther many  good  ends,  that  the  consideration  of  them  may 
entertain  all  your  affections  ;  and  that,  when  any  one  ceases, 
the  purity  of  your  intention  may  be  supported  by  another 
supply.  He  that  fasts  only  to  tame  a  rebellious  body,  when 
he  is  provided  of  a  remedy  either  in  grace  or  nature,  may 
be  tempted  to  leave  off  his  fasting.  But  he,  that  in  his  fast 
intends  the  mortification  of  every  unruly  appetite,  and  ac- 
customing himself  to  bear  the  yoke  of  the  Lord,  a  contempt 
of  the  pleasures  of  meat  and  drink,  humiliation  of  all 
wilder  thoughts,  obedience  and  humility,  austerity  and 
charity,  and  the  convenience  and  assistance  to  devotion, 
and  to  do  an  act  of  repentance;  whatever  happens,  will 
have  reason  enough  to  make  him  to  continue  his  purpose, 
and  to  sanctify  it.     And  certain  it  is,  the  more  good  ends 


PURITY  OF  INTENTION.  19 

are  designed  in  an  action,  the  more  degrees  of  excellency 
the  man  obtains. 

8.  If  any  temptation  to  spoil  your  purpose  happens  in  a 
religious  duty,  do  not  presently  omit  the  action,  but  rather 
strive  to  rectify  your  intention,  and  to  mortify  the  tempta- 
tion. St.  Bernard  taught  us  this  rule :  for  when  the 
Devil,  observing  him  to  preach  excellently  and  to  do  much 
benefit  to  his  hearers,  tempted  him  to  vain  glory,  hoping 
that  the  good  man,  to  avoid  that,  would  cease  preaching, 
he  gave  this  answer  only  ;  "  I  neither  began  for  thee,  nei- 
ther for  tjiee  will  I  make  an  end." 

9.  In  all  actions,  which  are  of  long  continuance,  deliber- 
ation, and  abode,  let  your  holy  and  pious  intention  be 
actual ;  that  is,  that  it  be,  by  a  special  prayer  or  action, 
by  a  peculiar  act  of  resignation  or  oblation,  given  to  God ; 
but  in  smaller  actions,  and  little  things  and  indifferent, 
fail  not  to  secure  a  pious  habitual  intention ;  that  is,  that  it< 
be  included  within  your  general  care,  that  no  action  have 
an  ill  end ;  and  that  it  be  comprehended  in  your  general 
prayers,  whereby  you  offer  yourself  and  all  you  do,  to  God's 
glory. 

10.  Call  not  every  temporal  end,  a  defiling  of  thy  inten- 
tion, but  only,  1,  when  it  contradicts  any  of  the  ends  of 
God ;  or  2,  when  it  is  principally  intended  in  an  action  of 
religion.  For  sometimes  a  temporal  end  is  part  of  our  duty  ; 
and  such  are  all  the  actions  of  our  calling,  Avhether  our 
employment  be  religious  or  civil.  We  are  commanded  to 
provide  for  our  family :  but  if»  the  minister  of  divine  of- 
fices shall  take  upon  him  that  holy  calling  for  covetous  or 
ambitious  ends,  or  shall  not  design  tlie  glory  of  God  prin- 
cipally and  especially,  he  hath  polluted  his  hands  and  his 
heart ;  and  the  fire  of  the  altar  is  quenched,  or  it  sends 
forth  nothing  but  the  smoke  of  mushrooms  or  unpleasant 
gums.  And  it  is  a  great  unworthiness  to  prefer  the  interest 
of  a  creature  before  the  ends  of  God,  the  Almighty  Creator. 

But  because  many  cases  may  happen,  in  which  a  man's 
heart  may  deceive  him,  and  he  may  not  well  know  what  is 
in  his  own  spirit ;  therefore,  by  these  following  signs,  we 
shall  best  make  a  judgment,  whether  our  intentions  be  pure, 
and  our  purposes  holy. 

Slg}is  of  Purity  of  Intention. 
1.  It  is  probable  our  hearts*  are  right  with  God,  and  our 
»  See  Sect.  I.  of  this  Chapter,  Rule  18. 


20  PURITY  OF  INTENTION. 

intentions  innocent  and  pious,  if  we  set  upon  actions  of  reli- 
gion or  civil  life  with  an  affection  proportionate  to  the  quality 
of  the  work ;  that  we  act  our  temporal  affairs  with  a  desire 
no  greater  than  our  necessity;  and  that  in  actions  of  reli- 
gion, we  be  zealous,  active,  and  operative,  so  far  as  prudence 
will  permit ;  but  in  all  cases,  that  we  value  a  religious  de- 
sign before  a  temporal,  when  otherwise  they  are  in  equal 
order  to  the  several  ends :  that  is,  that  whatsoever  is  ne- 
cessary in  order  to  our  soul's  health  be  higher  esteemed, 
than  what  is  for  bodily  ;  and  the  necessities,  the  indispensa- 
ble necessities,  of  the  spirit,  be  served  before  the  needs  of 
nature,  when  they  are  required  in  their  several  circumstances; 
or  plainer  yet,  when  we  choose  any  temporal  inconveni- 
ence, rather  than  commit  a  sin,  and  when  we  choose  to  do 
a  duty,  rather  than  to  get  gain.  But  he  that  does  his  re- 
creation or  his  merchandise  cheerfully,  promptly,  readily, 
and  busily,  and  the  works  of  religion  slowly,  flatly,  and 
without  appetite  ;  and  the  spirit  moves  like  Pharaoh's 
chariots,  when  the  wheels  were  off:  it  is  a  sign,  that  his 
heart  is  not  right  with  God,  but  it  cleaves  too  much  to  the 
world. 

2.  It  is  likely  our  hearts  are  pure,  and  our  intentions 
spotless,  when  we  are  not  solicitous  of  the  opinion  and 
censures  of  men  ;  but  only  that  what  we  do  be  our  duty  and 
accepted  of  God.  For  our  eyes  will  certainly  be  fixed 
there,  from  whence  we  expect  our  reward  :  and  if  we  de- 
sire, that  God  should  approve  us,  it  is  a  sign  we  do  his 
work,  and  expect  him  our  ptiymaster. 

3.  He  that  does  as  well,  in  private,  between  God  and 
his  own  soul,  as  in  public,  in  pulpits,  in  theatres,  and  mar- 
ket places,  hath  given  himself  a  good  testimony,  that  his 
purposes  are  full  of  honesty,  nobleness,  and  integrity.  For 
what  Helkanah  said  to  the  mother  of  Samuel,  "  Am  not  I 
better  to  thee  than  ten  sons  ?"  is  most  certainly  verified 
concerning  God  ;  that  he,  who  is  to  be  our  judge,  is  better 
than  ten  thousand  witnesses.  But  he,  that  would  have 
his  virtue  published,  studies  not  virtue,  but  glory.  "  He 
is  not  just,  that  will  not  be  just  without  praise  :  but  he  is  a 
righteous  man  that  does  justice,  when  to  do  so  is  made 
infamous  ;  and  he  is  a  wise  man,  who  is  delighted  with  an 
ill  name,  that  is  well  gotten."  And  indeed  that  man  hath 
a  strange  covetousness,  or  folly,  that  is  not  contented  with 
this  reward,  that  he  hath  pleased  God.     And  see  what  he 


PURITY  OF  INTENTION.  21 

gets  by  it.  He  that  docs  good  works  for  praise  or  secular 
ends,  sells  an  inestimable  jewel  for  a  trifle ;  and  that, 
which  would  purchase  heaven  for  him,  he  parts  with  for 
the  breath  of  the  people ;  which,  at  best,  is  but  aii*,  and 
that  not  often  wholesome. 
^  4.  It  is  well  also,  when  we  are  not  solicitous  or  trou- 
bled concerning  the  eflect  and  event  of  all  our  actions ; 
but  that  being  first  b}^  prayer  recommended  to  him,  is  left 
at  his  dispose :  for  then,  in  case  the  event  be  not  answer- 
able tQ>^\T  desires,  or  to  the  eflicacy  of  the  instrument,  we 
have  nothing  left  to  rest  in,  but  the  honesty  of  our  pur- 
poses ,•  which  it  is  the  more  likely  we  have  secured,  by  how 
much  more  we  are  indifferent  concerning  the  success.  St. 
James  converted  but  eight  persons,  when  he  preached  in 
Spain :  and  our  blessed  Saviour  converted  fewer  than  his 
own  disciples  did ;  and  if  thy  labours  prove  unprosperous, 
if  thou  beest  much  troubled  at  that,  it  is  certain  thou  didst 
not  think  thyself  secure  of  a  reward  for  thine  intention ; 
which  thou  mightest  have  done,  if  it  had  been  pure  and  just. 

5.  He  loves  virtue  for  God's  sake  and  its  own,  that 
loves  and  honours  it,  wherever  it  is  to  be  seen  ;  but  he  that 
is  envious  or  angry  at  a  virtue,  that  is  not  his  own,  at  the 
perfection  or  excellency  of  his  neighbour,  is  not  covetous 
of  the  virtue,  but  of  its  reward  and  reputation  ;  and  then  his 
intentions  are  polluted.  It  was  a  great  ingenuity  in  Moses, 
that  wished  all  the  people  might  be  prophets ;  but  if  he  had 
designed  his  own  honour,  he  would  have  prophesied  alone. 
But  he  that  desires  only,  that  the  work  of  God  and  religion 
shall  go  on,  is  pleased  with  it,  whosoever  is  the  instrument. 

6.  He  that  despises  the  world,  and  all  its  appendant 
vanities,  is  the  best  judge,  and  the' most  secured  of  his 
intentions ;  because  he  is  the  farthest  removed  from  a 
temptation.  Every  degree  of  mortification  is  a  testimony 
of  the  purity  of  our  purposes  ;  and  in  what  degree  we  de- 
spise sensual  pleasure,  or  secular  honours,  or  worldly  reput- 
ation, in  the  same  degree  we  shall  conclude  our  heart  right 
to  religion  and  spiritual  designs. 

7.  When  we  are  not  solicitous  concerning  the  instru- 
ments and  means  of  our  actions;  but  use  those  means, 
which  God  hath  laid  before  us,  with  resignation,  indiffe- 
rency,  and  thankfulness  ;  it  is  a  good  sign,  that  we  are 
rather  intent  upon  the  end  of  God's  glory,  than  our  own 
conveniency,  or  temporal  satisfaction.     He  that  is  indiffe- 


22  PURITY  OF  INTENTION. 

rent  whether  he  serve  God  in  riches  or  in  poverty,  is  rather 
a  seeker  of  God  than  of  himself;  and  he  that  will  throw^ 
away  a  good  book  because  it  is  not  curiously  gilded,  is  more 
curious  to  please  his  eye,  than  to  inform  his  understanding. 

8.  When  a  temporal  end  consisting  with  a  spiritual,  and 
pretending  to  be  subordinate  to  it,  happens  to  fail  and  be 
defeated,  if  we  can  rejoice  in  that,  so  God's  glory  may  be 
secured,  and  the  interests  of  religion ;  it  is  a  great  sign 
our  hearts  are  right,  and  our  ends  prudently  designed  and 
ordered.  • 

When  our  intentions  are  thus  balanced,  regulated,  and 
discerned,  we  may  consider,  1.  That  this  exercise  is  of  so 
universal  efficacy  in  the  whole  course  of  a  holy  life,  that  it 
is  like  the  soul  of  every  holy  action,  and  must  be  provided 
for  in  every  undertaking;  and  is,  of  itself  alone,  sufficient 
to  make  all  natural  and  indiffisrent  actions  to  be  adopted 
into  the  family  of  religion. 

2.  That  there  are  some  actions,  which  are  usually  reck- 
oned as  parts  of  our  religion,  which  yet,  of  themselves,  are 
so  relative  and  imperfect,  that,  without  the  purity  of  inten- 
tion, they  degenerate :  and  unless  they  be  directed  and 
proceed  on  to  those  purposes,  which  God  designed  them 
to,  they  return  into  the  family  of  common,  secular,  or  sin- 
ful actions.  Thus,  alms  are  for  the  charity,  fasting  for  tem- 
perance, prayer  is  for -religion,  humiliation  is  for  humility, 
austerity  or  sufferance  is  in  order  to  the  virtue  of  patience ; 
and  when  these  actions  fail  of  their  several  ends,  or  are 
not  directed  to  their  own  purposes,  alms  are  mispent,  fast- 
ing is  an  impertinent  trouble,  prayer  is  but  lip-labour,  hu- 
miliation is  but  hypocrisy,  sufferance  is  but  vexation  ;  for 
such  were  the  alms  of  the  pharisee,  the  fast  of  Jezabel,  the 
prayer  of  Judah  reproved  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  the  humi- 
liation of  Ahab,  the  martyrdom  of  heretics ;  in  which  no- 
thing is  given  to  God,  but  the  body,  or  the  forms  of  religion  ; 
but  the  soul  and  the  power  of  godliness  is  wholly  wanting. 

3.  We  are  to  consider,  that  no  intention  can  satisfy  an 
unholy  or  unlawful  action.  Saul,  the  king,  disobeyed 
God's  commandment,  and  spared  the  cattle  of  Amalek  to 
reserve  the  best  for  sacrifice  :  and  Saul,  the  Pharisee,  per- 
secuted  the  church  of  God,  with  a  design  to  do  God  ser- 
vice :  and  they  that  killed  the  apostles,  had  also  good  pur- 
poses, but  they  had  unhallowed  actions.  "  When  there 
is  both  truth  in  election,  and   charity  in  the  intention ; 


PRACXrCE  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  23 

when  we  go  to  God  in  ways  of  his  own  choosing  or  ap- 
proving, then  our  eye  is  single,  and  our  hands  are  clean, 
and  our  hearts  are  pure.  But  when  a  man  does  evil,  that 
good  may  come  of  it,  or  good  to  an  evil  purpose,  that  man 
does  like  him,  that  rolls  himself  in  thorns,  that  he  may 
sleep  easily;  he  roasts  himself  in  the  fire,  that  he  may 
quench  his  thirst  with  his  own  sweat ;  he  turns  his  face  to 
the  east,  that  he  may  go  to  bed  with  the  sun.  I  end  this 
with  the  saying  of  a  wise  heathen :  "  He  is  to  be  called 
evil,  that  is  good  only  for  his  own  sake.  Regard  not,  how 
full  hands  you  bring  to  God,  but  how  pure.  Many  cease, 
from  sin  out  of  fear  alone,  not  out  of  innocence  or  love  of 
virtue ;"  and  they,  as  yet,  are  not  to  be  called  innocent  but 
timorous. 

SECTION  III. 

The  third  general  instrument  of  holy  Living :  or  the 
Practice  of  the  Presence  of  God. 

That  God  is  present  in  all  places,  that  he  sees  every  ac- 
tion, hears  all  discourses,  and  understands  every  thought, 
is  no  strange  thing  to  a  Christian  ear,  who  hath  been  taught 
this  doctrine,  not  only  by  right  reason,  and  the  consent  of 
all  the  wise  men  in  the  world,  but  also  by  God  himself  in 
holy  Scripture.  "  Am  I  a  God  at  hand,  saith  the  Lord, 
and  not  a  God  afar  off?  Can  any  hide  himself  in  secret 
places,  that  I  shall  not  see  him  ?  saith  the  Lord.  Do  not 
I  fill  heaven  and  earth  ?"*  "  Neither  is  there  any  creature, 
that  is  not  manifest  in  his  sight :  but  all  things  are  naked 
and  open  to  the  eyes  of  him,  with  whom  we  have  to  do."f 
"  For  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being.":]: 
God  is  wholly  in  every  place ;  included  in  no  place ;  not 
bound  with  cords  except  those  of  love ;  not  divided  into 
parts,  not  changeable  into  several  shapes ;  filling  heaven 
and  earth  with  his  present  power,  and  with  his  never  ab- 
sent nature.  So  St.  Augustine  expresses  this  article.  So 
that  we  may  imagine  God  to  be  as  the  air  and  the  sea ; 
and  we  all  enclosed  in  his  circle,  wrapped  up  in  the  lap  of 
his  infinite  nature  ;  or  as  infants  in  the  wombs  of  their 
pregnant  mothers :  and  we  can  no  more  be  removed  from 
the  presence  of  God,  than  from  our  being. 

*  Jer.  xxiii.  23,  24.  t  Heb.  iv.  13.  t  Acts  vii.  28. 


24  PRACTICE  OF  THE 

Several  Manners  of  the  Divine  Presence* 

The  presence  of  God  is  understood  by  us,  in  several 
manners,  and  to  several  purposes. 

1.  God  is  present  by  his  essence;  which,  because  it  is 
infinite,  cannot  be  contained  within  the  limits  of  any  place  ; 
and  because  he  is  of  an  essential  purity  and  spiritual  na- 
ture, he  cannot  be  undervalued  by  being  supposed  present 
in  the  places  of  unnatural  uncleanness :  because  as  the  sun, 
reflecting  upon  the  mud  of  strands  and  shores,  is  unpol- 
luted in  its  beams,  so  is  God  not  dishonoured,  when  we 

suppose  him  in  every  of  his  creatures,  and  in  every  part  of 
every  one  of  them ;  and  is  still  as  unmixt  with  any  un- 
handsome adherence,  as  is  the  soul  in  the  bowels  of  the 
body. 

2.  God  is  every  where  present  by  his  power.  He  rolls 
the  orbs  of  heaven  with  his  hand ;  he  fixes  the  earth  with 
his  foot;  he  guides  all  the  creatures  with  his  eye,  and  re- 
freshes them  with  his  influence:  he  makes  the  powers  of 
hell  shake  with  his  terrors,  and  binds  the  devils  with  his 
word,  and  throws  them  out  with  his  command;  and  sends 
the  angels  on  embassies  with  his  decrees :  he  hardens  the 
joints  of  infants,  and  confirms  the  bones,  when  they  are 
fashioned  beneath  secretly  in  the  earth.  He  it  is,  that  as- 
sists at  the  numerous  productions  of  fishes  ;  and  there  is 
not  one  hollowness  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  but  he  shows 
himself  to  be  Lord  of  it,  by  sustaining  there  the  creatures 
that  come  to  dwell  in  it :  and  in  the  wilderness,  the  bittern 
and  the  stork,  the  dragon  and  the  satyr,  the  unicorn  and  the 
elk  live  upon  his  provisions,  and  revere  his  power,  and  feel 
the  force  of  his  almightiness. 

3.  God  is  more  specially  present,  in  some  places,  by 

the  several  and  more  special  manifestations  of  himself  to 

extraordinary  purposes.     First,  by  glory.     Thus,  his  seat 

is  in  heaven ;  because,  there  he  sits  encircled  with  all  the 

outward  demonstrations  of  his  glory,  which  he  is  pleased 

to  show  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  those  his  inward  and  secret 

courts.     And  thus  they,  that  "  die  in  the  Lord,  may  be 

properly  said  to  be  "  gone  to  God ;"  with  whom  although 

+K-xr  wpre  before,  vet  now  they  enter  into  his  courts,  into 

,  .  X    /jie  ieuiiue  and  splendour 

the'secret  of  Ins  tabernacle,  ntotn  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^l^i^ 

of  his  glory.     That  is  ^f  ^f^^^^fi  ^lesire  to  be  dissolved 
is  dwelling,  or  bemg  with  him. 


PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  25 

and  to  be  with  Christ ;"  so  said  St.  Paul.  But  this  man- 
ner of  Divine  presence  is  reserved  for  the  elect  people  of 
God,  and  for  their  portion  in  their  country. 

4.  God  is,  by  grace  and  benediction,  specially  present 
in  holy  places,*  and  in  the  solemn  assemblies  of  his  ser- 
vants. If  holy  people  meet  in  grots  and  dens  of  the  earth, 
when  persecution  or  a  public  necessity  disturbs  the  public 
order,  circumstance,  and  convenience,  God  fails  not  to 
come  thither  to  them :  but  God  is  also,  by  the  same  or  a 
greater  reason,  present  there,  where  they  meet  ordinarily, 
by  order,  and  public  authority  ;  there  God  is  present  or- 
dinarily, that  is,  at  every  such  meeting.  God  will  go  out 
of  his  way  to  meet  his  saints,  when  themselves  are  forced 
out  of  their  way  of  order  by  a  sad  necessity  :  but  else, 
God's  usual  way  is  to  be  present  in  those  places,  where  his 
servants  are  appointed  ordinarilyf  to  meet.  But  his  pre- 
sence there  signifies  nothing,  but  a  readiness  to  hear  their 
prayers,  to  bless  their  persons,  to  accept  their  offices,  and 
to  like  even  the  circumstance  of  orderly  and  public  meeting. 
For  thither  the  prayers  of  consecration,  the  public  autho- 
rity separating  it,  and  God's  love  of  order,  and  the  reason- 
able customs  of  religion,  have,  in  ordinary,  and  in  a  certain 
degree,  fixed  this  manner  of  his  presence  ;  and  he  loves  to 
have  it  so. 

5.  God  is  especially  present,  in  the  hearts  of  his  people, 
by  his  Holy  Spirit ;  and  indeed  the  hearts  of  holy  men  are 
temples  in  the  truth  of  things,  and,  in  type,  and  shadow, 
they  are  heaven  itself.  For  God  reigns  in  the  hearts  of 
his  servants :  there  is  his  kingdom.  The  power  of  grace 
hath  subdued  all  his  enemies ;  there  is  his  power.  They 
serve  him  night  and  day,  and  give  him  thanks  and  praise ; 
that  is  his  glory.  This  is  the  religion  and  worship  of 
God  in  the  temple.  The  temple  itself  is  the  heart  of 
man ;  Christ  is  the  high-priest,  who  from  thence  sends 
up  the  incense  of  prayers,  and  joins  them  to  his  own 
intercession,  and  presents  all  together  to  his  Father; 
^d  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  his  dwelling  there,  hath  also 
consecrated  it  into  a  temple ;:}:  and  God  dwells  in  our 
hearts  by  faith,  and  Christ  by  his  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  by 
his  purities ;  so  that  we  are  also  cabinets  of  the  mysterious 
Trinity  ;  and  what  is  this  short  of  heaven  itself,  but  as  in- 

*  Mat  xviii.  20.  Heb.  x.  25.  1 1  Kings  v.  9.  Ps.  cixxviii.  1,  2. 

X  1  Cor.  iii.  16.    2  Cor.  vi.  16. 

E 


26  PRACTICE  OF  THE 

fancy  is  short  of  manhood,  and  letters  of  words?  The  same 
state  of  life  it  is,  but  not  the  same  age.  It  is  heaven  in  a 
looking-glass,  dark,  but  yet  true,  representing  the  beauties 
of  the  soul,  and  the  graces  of  God,  and  the  images  of  his 
eternal  glory,  by  the  reality  of  a  special  presence. 

6.  God  is  especially  present  in  the  consciences  of  all 
persons,  good  and  bad,  by  way  of  testimony  and  judgment : 
that  is,  he  is  there  a  remembrancer  to  call  our  actions  to 
mind,  a  witness  to  bring  them  to  judgment,  and  a  judge  to 
acquit  or  to  condemn.  And  although  this  manner  of  pre- 
sence is,  in  this  life,  after  the  manner  of  this  life,  that  is, 
imperfect,  and  we  forget  many  actions  of  our  lives ;  yet 
the  greatest  changes  of  our  state  of  grace  or  sin,  our  most 
considerable  actions,  are  always  present,  like  capital  letters 
to  an  aged  and  dim  eye ;  and,  at  the  day  of  judgment,  God 
shall  draw  aside  the  cloud,  and  manifest  this  manner  of  his 
presence  more  notoriously,  and  make  it  appear,  that  he  was 
an  observer  of  our  very  thoughts,  and  that  he  only  laid 
those  things  by,  which,  because  we  covered  with  dust  and 
negligence,  were  not  then  discerned.  But  when  we  are 
risen  from  our  dust  and  imperfection,  they  all  appear  plain 
and  legible. 

Now  the  consideration  of  this  great  truth  is  of  a  very 
universal  use,  in  the  whole  course  of  the  life  of  a  Christian. 
All  the  consequents  and  effects  of  it  are  universal.  He 
that  remembers,  that  God  stands  a  witness  and  a  judge, 
beholding  every  secrecy,  besides  his  impiety,  must  have 
put  on  impudence,  if  he  be  not  much  restrained  in  his 
temptation  to  sin.  "  For  the  greatest  part  of  sin  is  taken 
away,  if  a  man  have  a  witness  of  his  conversation ;  and  he 
is  a  great  despiser  of  God,  who  sends  a  boy  away,  when  he 
is  going  to  commit  fornication,  and  yet  will  dare  to  do  it, 
though  he  knows  God  is  present,  and  cannot  be  sent  off: 
as  if  the  eye  of  a  little  boy  were  more  awful,  than  the  all- 
seeing  eye  of  God.  He  is  to  be  feared  in  public,  he  is  to 
be  feared  in  private  :  if  you  go  forth,  he  spies  you ;  if  you 
go  in,  he  sees  you  :  when  you  light  the  candle,  he  observes 
you ;  when  you  put  it  out,  then  also  God  marks  you.  Be 
sure  that  while  you  are  in  his  sight,  you  behave  yourself, 
as  becomes  so  holy  a  presence."  But  if  you  will  sin,  retire 
yourself  wisely,  and  go  where  God  cannot  see  :  for  no  where 
else  can  you  be  safe.  And  certainly,  if  men  would  always 
actually  consider,  and  really  esteem  this  truth,  that  God  is 


PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  27 

the  great  eye  of  the  world,  always  watching  over  our  actions, 
and  an  ever-open  car  to  hear  all  our  words,  and  an  un- 
wearied arm  ever  lifted  up  to  crush  a  sinner  into  ruin,  it 
would  be  the  readiest  way  in  the  world,  to  make  sin  to 
cease  from  amongst  the  children  of  men,  and  for  men  to 
approach  to  the  blessed  estate  of  the  saints  in  heaven,  who 
cannot  sin,  for  they  always  walk  in  the  presence,  and  behold 
the  face  of  God.  This  instrument  is  to  be  reduced  to 
practice,  according  to  the  following  rules. 

Rules  of  exercising  this  consideration. 

1.  Let  this  actual  thought  often  return,  that  God  is 
omnipresent,  fillkig  every  place ;  and  say,  with  David,* 
"  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit,  or  whither  shall  I  flee 
from  thy  presence  ?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven  thou  art 
there  :  if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell  thou  art  there,"  &;c.  This 
thought,  by  being  frequent,  will  make  an  habitual  dread  and 
reverence  towards  God,  and  fear  in  all  thy  actions.  For  it 
is  a  great  necessity  and  engagement  to  do  unblamably, 
when  we  act  before  the  Judge,  who  is  infallible  in  his  sen- 
tence, all-knowing  in  his  information,  severe  in  his  anger, 
powerful  in  his  providence,  and  intolerable  in  his  wrath  and 
indignation. 

2.  In  the  beginning  of  actions  of  religion,  make  an  act 
of  adoration,  that  is,  solemnly  worship  God,  and  place  thy- 
self in  God's  presence,  and  behold  him  with  the  eye  of  faith ; 
and  let  thy  desires  actually  fix  on  him,  as  the  object  of  thy 
worship,  and  the  reason  of  thy  hope,  and  the  fountain  of 
thy  blessing.  For  when  thou  hast  placed  thyself  before 
him,  and  kneelest  in  his  presence,  it  is  most  likely,  all  the 
following  parts  of  thy  devotion  will  be  answerable  to  the 
wisdom  of  such  an  apprehension,  and  the  glory  of  such  a 
presence. 

3.  Let  every  thing  you  see  represent  to  your  spirit  the 
presence,  the  excellency,  and  the  power  of  God ;  and  let 
your  conversation  with  the  creatures  lead  you  unto  the 
Creator ;  for  so  shall  your  actions  be  done,  more  frequently 
with  an  actual  eye  to  God's  presence,  by  your  often  seeing 
him  in  the  glass  of  the  creation.  In  the  face  of  the  sun, 
you  may  see  God's  beauty ;  in  the  fire,  you  may  feel  his 
heat  warming ;  in  the  water,  his  gentleness  to  refresh  you  : 
he  it  is  that  comforts  your  spirits  when  you  have  taken 
cordials  ,*  it  is  the  dew  of  heaven  that  makes  your  field  give 

*  Psalm  xiii.  7,  8. 


28  PRACTICE  OF  THE 

you  bread  ;  and  the  breasts  of  God  are  the  bottles  that  minis- 
ter drink  to  your  necessities.  This  philosophy,  which  is  ob- 
vious to  every  man's  experience,  is  a  good  advantage  to  our 
piety  ;  and,  by  this  act  of  understanding,  our  wills  are  check- 
ed from  violence  and  misdemeanour. 

4.  In  your  retirement,  make  frequent  colloquies,  or  short 
discoursings  between  God  and  thy  own  soul.  "  Seven 
times  a  day  do  I  praise  thee :  and,  in  the  night  season  also, 
I  thought  upon  thee,  while  I  was  waking."  So  did  David ; 
and  every  act  of  complaint  or  thanksgiving,  every  act  of 
rejoicing  or  of  mourning,  every  petition  and  every  return 
of  the  heart  in  these  intercourses,  is  a  g(^ng  to  God,  and 
appearing  in  his  presence,  and  a  representing  him  present 
to  thy  spirit  and  to  thy  necessity.  And  this  was,  long  since 
by  a  spiritual  person,  called,  "  a  building  to  God  a  chapel  in 
our  heart."  It  reconciles  Martha's  employment  with  Mary's 
devotion,  charity  and  religion,  the  necessities  of  our  calling 
and  the  employments  of  devotion.  For  thus,  in  the  midst 
of  the  works  of  your  trade,  you  may  retire  into  your  chapel, 
your  heart ;  and  converse  with  God  by  frequent  addresses 
and  returns. 

5.  Represent  and  offer -to  God  "acts  of  love  and  fear," 
which  are  the  proper  effects  of  this  apprehension,  and  the 
proper  exercise  of  this  consideration.  For,  as  God  is  every 
where  present  by  his  power,  he  calls  for  reverence  and 
godly  fear  :  as  he  is  present  to  thee  in  all  thy  needs,  and 
relieves  them,  he  deserves  thy  love  :  and  since,  in  every 
accident  of  our  lives,  we  find  one  or  other  of  these  appa- 
rent, and,  in  most  things,  we  see  both,  it  is  a  proper  and  pro- 
portionate return,  that  to  every  such  demonstration  of  God, 
we  express  ourselves  sensible  of  it,  by  admiring  the  Divine 
goodness,  or  trembling  at  his  presence  ;  ever  obeying  him, 
because  we  love  him,  and  ever  obeying  him,  because  we 
fear  to  offend  him.  This  is  that,  which  Enoch  did,  who 
thus  "  walked  with  God." 

6.  Let  us  remember,  that  God  is  in  us,  and  that  we  are 
in  him:  we  are  his  workmanship,  let  us  not  deface  it;  we 
are  in  his  presence,  let  us  not  pollute  it  by  unholy  and  im- 
pure actions.  God  hath  "  also  wrought  all  our  works  in 
us  :"*  and  because  he  rejoices  in  his  own  works,  if  we  defile 
them,  and  make  them  unpleasant  to  him,  we  walk  perversely 
with  God,  and  he  will  walk  crookedly  towards  us. 

*  Isa.  XXV  i.  12- 


PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  29 

7.  "God  is  in  the  bowels  of  thy  brother;"  refresh  them, 
when  he  needs  it,  and  tlien  you  give  your  alms  in  the  pre- 
sence of  God,  and  to  God ;  and  he  feels  the  relief,  which 
thou  providest  for  thy  brother. 

8.  God  is  in  every  place :  suppose  it  therefore  to  be  a 
church :  and  that  decency  of  deportment  and  piety  of  car- 
riage, which  you  arc  taught,  by  religion,  or  by  custom,  or 
by  civility  and  public  manners,  to  use  in  churches,  the  same 
use  in  all  places  ;  with  this  difference  only,  that,  in  churches 
let  your  deportment  be  religious  in  external  forms  and  cir- 
cumstances also ;  but  there  and  every  where,  let  it  be  reli- 
gious in  abstaining  from  spiritual  indecencies,  and  in  readi- 
ness to  do  good  actions  ;  that  it  may  not  be  said  of  us,  as 
God  once  complained  of  his  people,  "Why  hath  my  beloved 
done  wickedness  in  my  house?"* 

9.  God  is  in  every  creature ;  be  cruel  towards  none,  nei- 
ther abuse  any  by  intemperance.  Remember,  that  the 
creatures,  and  every  member  of  thy  own  body,  is  one  of  the 
lesser  cabinets  and  receptacles  of  God.  They  are  such, 
which  God  hath  blessed  with  his  presence,  hallowed  by  his 
touch,  and  separated  from  unholy  use,  by  making  them  to 
belong  to  his  dwelling. 

10.  He  walks  as  in  the  presence  of  God,  that  converses 
with  him  in  frequent  prayer  and  frequent  communion ;  that 
runs  to  him  in  all  his  necessities ;  that  asks  counsel  of  him  in 
all  his  doubtings  ;  that  opens  all  his  wants  to  him  ;  that  weeps 
before  him  for  his  sins ;  that  asks  remedy  and  support  for 
his  weakness ;  that  fears  him  as  a  judge ;  reverences  him  as 
a  lord ;  obeys  him  as  a  father ;  and  loves  him  as  a  patron. 

The  Benefits  of  this  Exercise. 

The  benefits  of  this  consideration  and  exercise  being 
universal  upon  all  the  parts  of  piety,  I  shall  less  need  to 
specify  any  particulars :  but  yet,  most  properly,  this  exer- 
cise of  considering  the  Divine  presence  is,  1.  An  excellent 
help  to  prayer,  producing  in  us  reverence  and  awfulness  to 
the  Divine  Majesty  of  God,  and  actual  devotion  in  our 
offices.  2.  It  produces  a  confidence  in  God,  and  fearless- 
ness of  our  enemies,  patience  in  trouble,  and  hope  of 
remedy ;  since  God  is  so  nigh  in  all  our  sad  accidents,  he 
is  a  disposer  of  the  hearts  of  men  and  the  events  of  things, 
he  proportions  out  our  trials,  and  supplies  us  with  remedy, 

*  Jer.  ix.  15.  secun.  vulg.  edit 
e2 


30  PRACTICE  OF  THE 

and,  where  his  rod  strikes  us,  his  staff  supports  us.  To 
which  we  may  add  this ;  that  God,  who  is  always  with  us, 
is  especially,  by  promise,  with  us  in  tribulation,  to  turn  the 
misery  into  a  mercy,  and  that  our  greatest  trouble  may 
become  our  advantage,  by  entitling  us  to  a  new  manner  of 
the  Divine  presence.  3.  It  is  apt  to  produce  joy  and  re- 
joicing in  God,  we  being  more  apt  to  delight  in  the  partners 
and  witnesses  of  our  conversation ;  every  degree  of  mutual 
abiding  and  conversing  being  a  relation  and  an  endear- 
ment :  we  are  of  the  same  household  with  God ;  he  is 
with  us  in  our  natural  actions,  to  preserve  us ;  in  our  re- 
creations, to  restrain  us ;  in  our  public  actions,  to  applaud 
or  reprove  us ;  in  our  private,  to  observe  us ;  in  our  sleeps, 
to  watch  by  us ;  in  our  watchings,  to  refresh  us :  and 
if  we  walk  with  God  in  all  his  ways,  as  he  walks  with 
us  in  all  ours,  we  shall  find  perpetual  reasons  to  enable 
us  to  keep  that  rule  of  God,  "Rejoice  in  the  Lord  always, 
and  again  I  say  rejoice."  And  this  puts  me  in  mind  of 
a  saying  of  an  old  religious  person,  "  There  is  one  way  of 
overcoming  our  ghostly  enemies;  spiritual  mirth,  and  a 
perpetual  bearing  of  God  in  our  minds."  This  effectively 
resists  the  devil,  and  suffers  us  to  receive  no  hurt  from  him. 
4.  This  exercise  is  apt  also  to  enkindle  holy  desires  of  the 
enjoyment  of  God,  because  it  produces  joy,  when  we  do 
enjoy  him;  the  same  desires  that  a  weak  man  hath  for  a 
defender ;  the  sick  man,  for  a  physician ;  the  poor,  for  a 
patron ;  the  child,  for  his  father ;  the  espoused  lover,  for 
her  betrothed.  5.  From  the  same  fountain  are  apt  to  issue 
humility  of  spirit,  apprehensions  of  our  great  distance  and 
our  great  needs,  our  daily  wants  and  hourly  supplies,  admi- 
ration of  God's  unspeakable  mercies  :  it  is  the  cause  of  great 
modesty  and  decency  in  our  actions ;  it  helps  to  recollec- 
tion of  mind,  and  restrains  the  scatterings  and  looseness  of 
wandering  thoughts ;  it  establishes  the  heart  in  good  pur- 
poses, and  leadeth  on  to  perseverance ;  it  gains  purity  and 
perfection  (according  to  the  saying  of  God  to  Abraham, 
"walk  before  me  and  be  perfect,")  holy  fear,  and  holy  love, 
and  indeed  every  thing  that  pertains  to  holy  living :  when 
we  see  ourselves  placed  in  the  eye  of  God,  who  sets  us  on 
work,  and  will  reward  us  plenteously,  to  serve  him  with  an 
eye-service  is  very  displeasing;  for  he  also  sees  the  heart: 
and  the  want  of  this  consideration  was  declared  to  be  the 
cause  why  Israel  sinned  so  grievously,  "  for  they  say,  The 


PRESENCE  OF  GOD.  31 

Lord  hath  forsaken  the  earth,  and  the  Lord  seeth  not  :"* 
"  therefore  the  land  is  full  of  blood,  and  the  city  full  of  per- 
verseness."t  What  a  child  would  do,  in  the  eye  of  his 
father ;  and  a  pupil,  before  his  tutor  ;  and  a  wife,  in  the 
presence  of  her  husband;  and  a  servant,  in  the  sight  of 
his  master  ;  let  us  always  do  the  same  ;  for  we  are  made  a 
spectable  to  God,  to  angels,  and  to  men  ;  we  are  always 
in  the  sight  and  presence  of  the  all-seeing  and  almighty 
God,  who  also  is  to  us  a  father  and  a  guardian,  a  husband 
and  a  lord. 

Prayers  and  Devotions,  according  to  the  religion  and 
purposes  of  the  foregoing  considerations. 

L — For  grace  to  spend  our  time  loell. 

O  eternal  God,  who,  from  all  eternity,  dost  behold  and 
love  thy  own  glories  and  perfections  infinite,  and  hast  cre- 
ated me  to  do  the  work  of  God  after  the  manner  of  men, 
and  to  serve  thee  in  this  generation,  and  according  to  my 
capacities ;  give  me  thy  grace,  that  I  may  be  a  curious  and 
prudent  spender  of  my  time,  so  as  I  may  best  prevent,  or 
resist,  all  temptation,  and  be  profitable  to  the  Christian 
commonwealth,  and,  by  discharging  all  my  duty,  may  glo- 
rify thy  name.  Take  from  me  all  slothfulness,  and  give 
me  a  diligent  and  an  active  spirit,  and  wisdom  to  choose 
my  employment :  that  I  may  do  works  proportionable  to 
my  person,  and  to  the  dignity  of  a  Christian,  and  may  fill 
up  all  the  spaces  of  my  time  with  actions  of  religion  and 
charity  ;  that,  when  the  devil  assaults  me,  he  may  not  find 
me  idle  ;  and  my  dearest  Lord,  at  his  sudden  coming,  may 
find  me  busy  in  lawful,  necessary,  and  pious  actions  ;  im- 
proving my  talent  entrusted  to  me  by  thee,  my  Lord;  that 
I  may  enter  into  the  joy  of  my  Lord,  to  partake  of  his  eter- 
nal felicities,  even  for  thy  mercy's  sake,  and  for  my  dearest 
Saviour's  sake.  Amen. 
Here  follows  the  devotion  of  ordinary  days  ;  for  the  right 

employment  of  those  portions  of  time,  which  every  day 

must  allow  for  religion. 
The  first  prayers  in  the  morning  as  soon  as  we  are  dressed. 
Humbly  and  reverently  compose  yourself,  with  heart  lift-up 

to  God,  and  your  head   bowed,   and   meekly   kneeling 

upon  your  knees,  say  the   Lord's  prayer  :  after  which, 

*  Psalm  X.  11.  tEzek.  ix.9. 


32  DEVOTIONS  FOR 

use  the  following  collects,  or  as  many  of  them  as  you 
shall  choose. 
"  Our  Father,  which  art  in  heaven,"  &c. 

I. — An  Act  of  Adoration^  being  the  song  that  the  angels 
sing  in  heaven. 
Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Almighty,  which  was,  and 
is,  and  is  to  come  :*  heaven  and  earth,  angels  and  men,  the 
air  and  the  sea,  give  glory  and  honour,  and  thanks  to  him, 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  who  liveth  for  ever  and  ever.f 
All  the  blessed  spirits  and  souls  of  the  righteous  cast  their 
crowns  before  the  throne,  and  worship  him  that  liveth  for 
ever  and  ever.ij:  Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord,  to  receive 
glory,  and  honour  and  power  :  for  thou  hast  created  all 
things,  and  for  thy  pleasure  they  are,  and  were  created. 
Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works,  O  Lord  God  Almighty  : 
just  and  true  are  thy  ways,  thou  King  of  saints. §  Thy 
wisdom  is  infinite,  thy  mercies  are  glorious ;  and  I  am  not 
worthy,  O  Lord,  to  appear  in  thy  presence,  before  whom 
the  angels  hide  their  faces.  O  holy  and  eternal  Jesus, 
Lamb  of  God,  who  w^ert  slain  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world,  thou  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood  out  of 
every  nation,  and  hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and 
priests,  and  we  shall  reign  with  thee  for  ever.  Blessing, 
honour,  glory,  and  power  be  unto  him,  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne,  and  to  the  Lamb,  for  ever.     Amen. 

IL — An  Act  of  Thanksgiving,  being  the  song  of  David, 
for  the  morning. 

Sing  praises  unto  the  Lord,  O  ye  saints  of  his,  and  give 
thanks  to  him  for  a  remembrance  of  his  holiness.  For  his 
wrath  endureth  but  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  :  and  in  his 
pleasure  is  life  ;  heaviness  may  endure  for  a  night ;  but  joy 
cometh  in  the  morning.  Thou,  Lord,  hast  preserved  me 
this  night  from  the  violence  of  the  spirits  of  darkness,  from 
all  sad  casualties  and  evil  accidents,  from  the  wrath,  which 
I  have  every  day  deserved ;  thou  hast  brought  my  soul  out 
of  hell ;  thou  hast  kept  my  life  from  them  that  go  down 
into  the  pit :  thou  hast  showed  me  marvellous  great  kind- 
ness, and  hast  blessed  me  for  ever ;  the  greatness  of  thy 
glory  reacheth  unto  the  heavens,  and  thy  truth  unto  the 
clouds.  Therefore  shall  every  good  man  sing  of  thy  praise 
*  Rev.  xi.  17.      t  Rev.  v.  10.  13.        X  Rev.  iv.  10.        $  Rev.  xv.  3. 


ORDINARY  DAYS.  33 

without  ceasing.     O  my  God,  I  will  give  thanks  unto  thee 
for  ever.     IlaFlelujah. 

III. — A?i  Act  of  Oblation,  or  presenting  ourselves  to 
God  for  the  day. 

Most  holy  and  eternal  God,Lord  and  Sovereign  of  all  the 
creatures,  I  humbly  present  to  thy  Divine  majesty,  myself, 
niy  soul  and  body,  my  thoughts  and  my  words,  my  actions 
and  intentions,  my  passions  and  my  sufferings,  to  be  dis- 
posed by  thee  to  thy  glory  ;  to  be  blessed  by  thy  provi- 
dence ;  to  be  guided  by  thy  council ;  to  be  sanctified  by 
thy  Spirit;  and,  afterward,  that  my  body  and  soul  may 
be  received  into  glory :  for  nothing  can  perish,  which  is 
under  thy  custody  :  and  the  enemy  of  souls  cannot  de- 
vour what  is  thy  portion,  nor  take  it  out  of  thy  hands. 
This  day,  O  Lord,  and  all  the  days  of  my  life,  I  dedicate 
to  thy  honour,  and  the  actions  of  my  calling,  to  the  uses 
of  grace,  and  the  religion  of  all  my  days,  to  be  united  to 
the  merits  and  intercession  of  my  holy  Saviour,  Jesus  ,• 
that,  in  him  and  for  him,  I  may  be  pardoned  and  accepted. 
Amen. 

IV. — An  Act  of  Repentance  or  Contrition. 

For,  as  for  me,  I  am  not  worthy  to  be  called  thy  servant  ; 
much  less  am  I  worthy  to  be  thy  son :  for  I  am  the  vilest 
of  sinners  and  the  w^orst  of  men  :  a  lover  of  the  things  of 
the  world,  and  a  despiser  of  the  things  of  God ;  proud  and 
envious,  lustful  and  intemperate,  greedy  of  sin,  and  impa- 
tient of  reproof ;  desirous  to  seem  holy,  and  negligent  of 
being  so  ;  transported  with  interest ;  fooled  with  presump- 
tion and  false  principles;  disturbed  with  anger,  with  a 
peevish  and  unmortified  spirit,  and  disordered  by  a  whole 
body  of  sin  and  death.  Lord,  pardon  all  my  sins  for  my 
sweetest  Saviour's  sake :  thou,  who  didst  die  for  me,  hoh 
Jesus,  save  me  and  deliver  me  :  reserve  not  my  sins  to  be 
punished  in  the  day  of  wrath  and  eternal  vengeance  ;  but 
w^ash  aw^ay  my  sins,  and  blot  them  out  of  thy  remem- 
brance, and  purify  my  soul  wuth  the  waters  of  repentance, 
and  the  blood  of  the  cross  ;  that,  for  what  is  past,  thy  wrath 
may  not  come  out  against  me  ;  and,  for  the  time  to  come, 
I  may  never  provoke  thee  to  anger  or  to  jealousy.  O  just 
and  dear  God,  be  pitiful  and  gracious  to  thy  servant.  Amen. 
V. — The  Prayer,  or  Petition. 

Bless  me,  gracious  God,  in  my  calling  to  such  purposes, 


34  DEVOTIONS  FOR 

as  thou  shalt  choose  for  me,  or  employ  me  in  :  relieve  me 
in  all  my  sadnesses  ;  make  my  bed  in  my  sickness  ;  give 
me  patience  in  my  sorrows,  confidence  in  thee,  and  grace 
to  call  upon  thee  in  all  temptations.  O  be  thou  my  guide 
in  all  my  actions  ;  my  protector  in  all  dangers ;  give  me  a 
healthful  body,  and  a  clear  understanding ;  a  sanctified 
and  just,  a  charitable  and  humble,  a  religious  and  a  con- 
tented spirit ;  let  not  my  life  be  miserable  and  wretched ; 
nor  my  name  stained  with  sin  and  shame  ;  nor  my  condi- 
tion lifted  up  to  a  tempting  and  dangerous  fortune  :  but  let 
my  condition  be  blessed,  my  conversation  useful  to  my 
neighbours,  and  pleasing  to  thee ;  that,  when  my  body 
shall  lie  down  in  its  bed  of  darkness,  my  soul  may  pass  into 
the  regions  of  light,  and  live  with  thee  for  ever,  through 
Jesus  Christ.  Amen. 
VI. — A?i  Act  of  Intercession  or  Prayer  for  others,  to  be  added 

to  this  or  any  other  office,  as  our  devotion,  or  duty,  or  their 

needs,  shall  deteimine  ns. 

O  God  of  infinite  mercy,  who  hast  compassion  on  all 
men,  and  relievest  the  necessities  of  all  that  call  to  thee 
for  help,  hear  the  prayers  of  thy  servant,  who  is  unworthy 
to  ask  any  petition  for  himself,  yet,  in  humility  and  duty, 
is  bound  to  pray  for  others. 

For  the  Church. 

O  let  thy  mercy  descend  upon  the  whole  church  ;  pre- 
serve her  in  truth  and  peace,  in  unity  and  safety,  in  all 
storms,  and  against  all  temptations  and  enemies  ;  that  she, 
offering  to  thy  glory  the  never-ceasing  sacrifice  of  prayer 
and  thanksgiving,  may  advance  the  honour  of  her  Lord, 
and  be  filled  with  his  Spirit,  and  partake  of  his  glory. 
Amen. 

For  the  King. 

In  mercy,  remember  the  king;  preserve  his  person,  in 
health  and  honour  ;  his  crown,  in  wealth  and  dignity  ;  his 
kingdoms,  in  peace  and  plenty ;  the  churches  under  his 
protection,  in  piety  and  knowledge,  and  a  strict  and  holy 
religion :  keep  him  perpetually  in  thy  fear  and  favour,  and 
crown  him  with  glory  and  immortality.  Amen. 
For  the  Clergy. 

Remember  them,  that  minister  about  holy  things;  let 
them  be  clothed  with  righteousness,  and  sing  with  joyful- 
ness.     Amen. 


ORDINARY  DAYS.  35 

For  Wife  or  Husband, 
Bless  thy  servant  [my  wife,  or  husband]  with  health  of 
body  and  of  spirit.  O  let  the  hand  of  thy  blessing  be  upon 
his  [or  her'\  head,  night  and  day,  and  support  him  in  all  ne- 
cessities, strengthen  him  in  all  temptations,  comfort  him  in 
all  his  sorrows,  and  let  him  be  thy  servant  in  all  changes  ; 
and  make  us  both  to  dwell  with  thee  for  ever  in  thy  favour, 
in  the  light  of  thy  countenance,  and  in  thy  glory.     Amen. 

For  our  Children. 
Bless  my  children  with  healthful  bodies,  with  good  un- 
derstandings, with  the  graces  and  gifts  of  thy  Spirit,  with 
sweet  dispositions  and  holy  habits;  and  sanctify  them 
throughout  in  their  bodies,  and  souls,  and  spirits,  and  keep 
them  unblamable  to  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Amen. 

For  Friends  and  Benefactors. 

Be  pleased,  O  Lord,  to  remember  my  friends,  all  that 
have  prayed  for  me,  and  all  that  have  done  me  good. 
[^Here  name  such,  whom  you  would  especially  recommend.^ 
Do  thou  good  to  them,  and  return  all  their  kindness  double 
into  their  own  bosom,  rewarding  them  with  blessings,  and 
sanctifying  them  with  thy  graces,  and  bringing  them  to 
glory. 

For  our  Family. 

Let  all  my  family  and  kindred,  my  neighbours  and  ac- 
quaintance [here  name  lohat  other  relations  you  please^,  re- 
ceive the  benefit  of  my  prayers,  and  the  blessings  of  God  ; 
the  comforts  and  supports  of  thy  providence,  and  the  sanc- 
tification  of  thy  Spirit. 

For  all  in  Misery. 

Relieve  and  comfort  all  the  persecuted  and  afflicted  ; 
speak  peace  to  troubled  consciences  :  strengthen  the  w^eak  : 
confirm  the  strong :  instruct  the  ignorant :  deliver  the  op- 
pressed from  him  that  spoileth  him,  and  relieve  the  needy 
that  hath  no  helper ;  and  bring  us  all,  by  the  waters  of  com- 
fort, and  in  the  ways  of  righteousness,  to  the  kingdom  of 
rest  and  glory,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord.     Amen. 

To  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  to  the 
eternal  Son,  that  was  incarnate  and  born  of  a  Virgin  ;  to 
the  Spirit  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  be  all  honour  and 
glory,  worship  and  thanksgiving,  now  and  for  ever.    Amen. 


36  DEVOTIONS  FOR 

Another  Form  of  Prayer,  for  the  Morning. 

In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.    Our  Father,  <Sfc. 

I. 
Most  glorious  and  eternal  God,  father  of  mercy,  and 
God  of  all  comfort,  I  worship  and  adore  thee  with  the  lowest 
humility  of  my  soul  and  body,  and  give  thee  all  thanks  and 
praise  for  thy  infinite  and  essential  glories  and  perfections, 
and  for  the  continual  demonstration  of  thy  mercies  upon 
me,  upon  all  mine,  and  upon  thy  holy  catholic  church. 

II. 

I  acknowledge,  dear  God,  that  I  have  deserved  the 
greatest  of  thy  wrath  and  indignation  ;  and  that,  if  thou 
hadst  dealt  with  me  according  to  my  deserving,  I  had  now, 
at  this  instant,  been  desperately  bewailing  my  miseries,  in 
the  sorrows  and  horrors  of  a  sad  eternity.  But,  thy  mercy 
triumphing  over  thy  justice  and  my  sins,  thou  hast  still 
continued  to  me  life  and  time  of  repentance ;  thou  hast 
opened  to  me  the  gates  of  grace  and  mercy,  and  perpetu- 
ally callest  upon  me  to  enter  in,  and  to  walk  in  the  paths 
of  a  holy  life,  that  I  might  glorify  thee,  and  be  glorified  of 
thee  eternally. 

III. 

Behold,  O  God,  for  this  thy  great  and  unspeakable  good- 
ness, for  the  preservation  of  me  this  night,  and  for  all 
other  thy  graces  and  blessings,  I  offer  up  my  soul  and 
body,  all  that  I  am,  and  all  that  I  have,  as  a  sacrifice  to 
thee  and  thy  service ;  humbly  begging  of  thee  to  pardon 
all  my  sins,  to  defend  me  from  all  evil,  to  lead  me  into  all 
good  ;  and  let  my  portion  be  amongst  thy  redeemed  ones, 
in  the  gathering  together  of  the  saints,  in  the  kingdom  of 
grace  and  glory. 

IV. 

Guide  me,  O  Lord,  in  all  the  changes  and  varieties  of 
the  world  ;  that  in  all  things  that  shall  happen,  I  may 
have  an  evenness  and  tranquillity  of  spirit ;  that  my  soul 
may  be  wholly  resigned  to  thy  divinest  will  and  pleasure, 
never  murmuring  at  thy  gentle  chastisements  and  fatherly 
correction;  never  waxing  proud  and  insolent,  though  I  feel 
a  torrent  of  comforts  and  prosperous  successes. 


ORDINARY  DAYS.  37 

V. 

Fix  my  tliouohts,  my  hopes,  and  my  desires,  upon 
heaven,  and  heavenly  things ;  teach  me  to  despise  the 
world,  to  repent  me  dee])Iy  for  my  sins  ;  give  me  holy  pur- 
poses of  amendment,  and  ghostly  strength  and  assistances 
to  perform  faithfully,  whatsoever  I  shall  intend  piously. 
Enrich  my  understanding  with  an  eternal  treasure  of 
divine  truths,  that  I  may  know  thy  will ;  and  thou,  who 
workest  in  us  to  will  and  to  do  of  thy  good  pleasure, 
teach  me  to  obey  all  thy  commandments,  to  believe  all  thy 
revelations,  and  make  me  partaker  of  all  thy  gracious  pro- 
mises. 

VI. 

Teach  me  to  watch  over  all  my  ways,  that  I  may  never 
be  surprised  by  sudden  temptations  or  a  careless  spirit, 
nor  ever  return  to  folly  and  vanity.  Set  a  watch,  O  Lord, 
before  my  mouth,  and  keep  the  door  of  my  lips,  that  I 
offend  not  in  my  tongue,  neither  against  piety  nor  charity. 
Teach  me  to  think  of  nothing  but  thee,  and  what  is  in 
order  to  thy  glory  and  service  :  to  speak  nothing  but 
thee,  and  thy  glories  ;  and  to  do  nothing,  but  what  be- 
comes thy  servant,  whom  thy  infinite  mercy,  by  the  graces 
of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  hath  sealed  up  to  the  day  of  redemp- 
tion. 

VII. 

Let  all  my  passions  and  affections  be  so  mortified  and 
brought  under  the  dominion  of  grace,  that  I  may  never, 
by  deliberation  and  purpose,  nor  yet  by  levity,  rashness, 
or  inconsideration,  offend  thy  Divine  majesty.  Make  me 
such  as  thou  wouldst  have  me  to  be :  strengthen  my 
faith,  confirm  my  hope,  and  give  me  a  daily  increase  of 
charity,  that,  this  day  and  ever,  I  may  serve  thee  accord- 
ing to  all  my  opportunities  and  capacities,  growing  from 
grace  to  grace  ;  till  at  last,  by  thy  mercies,  I  shall  receive 
the  consummation  and  perfection  of  grace,  even  the  glories 
of  thy  kingdom,  in  the  full  fruition  of  the  face  and  excel- 
lences of  God  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ; 
to  whom  be  glory  and  praise,  honour  and  adoration,  given 
by  all  angels,  and  all  men,  and  all  creatures,  now,  and  to  all 
eternity.  Amen. 
IT  To  this  may  be  added  the  prayer  of  intercession  for 

others,  whom  we  are  kound  to  remember,  which  is  at 

the  end  of  the  foregoing  praver ;  or  else  you  may  take 
F 


38  DEVOTIONS  FOR 

such  special  prayers,  which  follow  at  the  end  of  the 
fourth  chapter  [for  parents,  for  children,  cfec] 

After  this,  conclude  with  this  ejaculution. 
Now,  in  all  tribulation   and   anguish   of  spirit,  in  all 
dangers  of  soul  and  body,  in  prosperity  and  adversity,  in 
the  hour  of  death,  and  in  the  day  of  judgment,  holy  and 
most  blessed  Saviour  Jesus,  have  mercy  upon  me,  save  me, 
and  deliver  me  and  all  faithful  people.     Amen. 
IF  Between  this  and  noon,  usually,   are  said   the   public 
prayers  appointed  by  authority ;  to  which  all  the  clergy 
are  obliged,  and  other  devout  persons,  that  have  leisure, 
to  accompany  them. 
IF  Afternoon,  or  at  any  time  of  the  day,  when  a  devout 
person  retires  into  his  closet  for  private  prayer,  or  spirit- 
ual exercises,  he  may  say  the  following  devotions* 
An  exercise  to  he  used  at  any  time  of  the  day. 
In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  &;c.     Our 
Father,  &c. 

The  Hymn,  collected  out  of  the  Psalms,  recounting  the 

excellences  and  greatness  of  God. 
O  be  joyful  in  God,  all  ye  lands  ;  sing  praises  unto  the 
honour  of  his  name,  make  his  name  to  be  glorious.  O  come 
hither,  and  behold  the  works  of  God,  how  wonderful  he  is 
in  his  doings  towards  the  children  of  men.  He  ruleth 
with  his  power  for  ever.* 

He  is  the  Father  of  the  fatherless,  and  defendeth  the 
cause  of  the  widow,  even  God  in  his  holy  habitation.  He 
is  the  God,  that  maketh  men  to  be  of  one  mind  in  a  house, 
and  bringeth  the  prisoners  out  of  captivity  ;  but  letteth  the 
runagates  continue  in  scarceness.f 

It  is  the  Lord,  that  comniandeth  the  waters;  it  is  the 
glorious  God,  that  maketh  the  thunder.  It  is  the  Lord 
that  ruleth  the  sea :  the  voice  of  the  Lord  is  mighty  in  ope- 
ration ;  the  voice  of  the  Lord  is  a  glorious  voice.^ 

Let  all  the  earth  fear  the  Lord  :  stand  in  awe  of  him,  all 
ye,  that  dwell  in  the  world.§  Thou  shalt  show  us  wonder- 
ful things  in  thy  righteousness,  O  God  of  our  salvation  ; 
thou,  that  art  the  hope  of  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  of 
them,  that  remain  in  the  broad  sea.|] 
Glory  be  to  the  Father,  &c. 
*  Psalra  Ixvi.  1.  4.  6.  t  Psalm  Ixviii.*,  6.  t  Psalm  xxix.  3,  4- 

$  Psalm  xixiii.  8.  11  Psalm  xv.  5. 


ORDINARY  DAYS  39 

Or,  this  : 
O  Lord,  thou  art  my  God,  I  will  exalt  thee  :  I  will  praise 
thy  name,  for  thou  hast  done  wonderful  things:  thy  couo- 
sels  of  old  are  faithfulness  and  truth.* 

Thou,  in  thy  strength,  settest  fast  the  mountains,  and 
are  girded  about  with  power.  Thou  stillest  the  raging  of 
tJie  sea,  and  the  noise  of  his  waves,  and  the  madness  of  his 
people. t 

They  also  that  remain  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth,  shall  be  afraid  at  thy  tokens ;  thou,  that  makest  the 
outgoings  of  the  morning  and  evening  to  praise  thee. 

6  Lord  God  of  Hosts,  who  is  like  unto  thee  ?  thy  truth, 
most  mighty  Lord,  is  on  every  side.:]:  Among  the  gods 
there  is  none  like  unto  thee  :  O  Lord,  there  is  none,  that 
can  do,  as  thou  doest.  For  thou  art  great,  and  doest  won- 
drous things  ;  thou  art  God  alone. § 

God  is  very  greatly  to  be  feared  in  the  council  of  the 
saints,  and  to  be  had  in  reverence  of  all  them,  that  are 
round  about  him.]] 

Righteousness  and  equity  is  in  the  habitation  of  thy 
seat ;  mercy  and  truth  shall  go  before  thy  face.  Glory  and 
v/orship  are  before  him ;  power  and  honour  are  in  his  sanc- 
tuary.^ 

Thou,  Lord,  art  the  thing,  that  I  long  for;  thou  art  my 
hope,  even  from  my  youth.  Through  thee  have  I  been 
holden  up,  ever  since  I  was  born ;  thou  art  he,  that  took 
me  out  of  my  mother's  womb ;  my  praise  shall  be  always 
of  thee.** 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  &;c. 
IT  After  this  may  be  read  some  portion  of  Holy  Scripture, 
out  of  the  New  Testament,  or  out  of  the  Sapiential  books 
of  the  Old,  viz.  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  &c.  because  these 
are  of  great  use  to  piety,  and  to  civil  conversation.  Upon 
which,  when  you  have  awhile  meditated,  humbly  compos- 
ing yourself  upon  your  knees,  say  as  followeth. 

Ejaculations. 
My  help  standeth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  who  hath 
made  heaven  and  earth.ff 

Shew  the  light  of  thy  countenance  upon  thy  servant; 
and  I  shall  be  safe.J:j: 

*  Isa.  XXV.  1.  t  Psalm  Ixv.  6 — 8.  t  Psalm  Ixixix.  9. 

$  Psalm  Ixxxvi.  8,  9.  ||  Psalm  Ixxxix.  8.  15.     IT  Psalm  xc\'i.  6. 

**  Psalm  Ixii.  5,  6-  tt  Psalm  cxxiv.  8.  tX  Psalm  Ixxx.  3. 


40  DEVOTIONS  FOR 

Do  well,  O  Lord,  to  them  that  be  true  of  heart,  and  ever- 
more miji^htily  defend  them.* 

Direct  me  in  thy  truth,  and  teach  me :  for  thou  art  my 
Saviour  and  my  great  master.f 

Keep  me  from  sin  and  death  eternal,  and  from  my  ene- 
mies visible  and  invisible. 

Give  me  grace  to  live  a  holy  life,  and  thy  favour,  that  I 
may  die  a  godly  and  happy  death. 

iiOrd,  hear  the  prayer  of  thy  servant,  and  give  me  thy 
Holy  Spirit. 

The  Prayer* 

O  eternal  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  vouchsafe  thy 
favour  and  thy  blessing  to  thy  servant ;  let  the  love  of  thy 
mercies,  and  the  dread  and  fear  of  thy  majesty,  make  me 
careful  and  inquisitive  to  search  thy  will,  and  diligent  to 
perform  it,  and  to  persevere  in  the  practices  of  a  holy  life, 
even  till  the  last  of  my  days. 

II. 

Keep  me,  O  Lord,  for  I  am  thine  by  creation  ;  guide 
me,  for  I  am  thine  by  purchase ;  thou  hast  redeemed  me 
by  the  blood  of  thy  Son  ;  and  loved  me  with  the  love  of 
a  father,  for  I  am  thy  child  by  adoption  and  grace :  let 
thy  mercy  pardon  my  sins,  thy  providence  secure  me  from 
the  punishments  and  evils  I  have  deserved,  and  thy  care 
watcli  over  me,  that  I  may  never  any  more  offend  thee  : 
make  me,  in  malice,  to  be  a  child  ;  but  in  understanding, 
piety,  and  the  fear  of  God,  let  me  be  a  perfect  man  in 
Christ,  innocent  and  prudent,  readily  furnished  and  in- 
structed to  every  good  work. 

III. 

Keep  me,  O  Lord,  from  the  destroying  angel,  and  from 
the  wrath  of  God ;  let  thy  anger  never  rise  against  me, 
but  thy  rod  gently  correct  my  follies,  and  guide  me  in  thy 
ways,  and  thy  staff  support  me  in  all  sufferings  and 
changes.  Preserve  me  from  fracture  of  bones,  from  noi- 
some, infectious,  and  sharp  sicknesses ;  from  great  vio- 
lences of  fortune  and  sudden  surprises  ;  keep  all  my  senses 
entire  till  the  day  of  my  death,  and  let  my  death  be  nei- 
ther sudden,  untimely,  nor  unprovided  :  let  it  be  after  the 
common  manner  of  men,  having  in  it  nothing  extraordi- 
*  Psakii  cxxv.  4.  t  Psalm  xxv.  5. 


ORDINARY  DAYS.  41 

nary,  but  an  extraordinary  piety,  and  the  manifestation  of 
thy  great  and  miraculous  mercy. 

IV. 
Let  no  riclies  make  me  ever  forget  myself,  no  poverty 
ever  make  me  to  forget  thee  :  let  no  hope  or  fear,  no  pleasure 
or  pain,  no  accident  without,  no  weakness  within,  hinder 
or  discompose  my  duty,  or  turn  me  from  the  ways  of  thy 
commandments.  O  let  thy  Spirit  dwell  with  me  for  ever, 
and  make  my  soul  just  and  charitable,  full  of  honesty,  full 
of  religion,  resolute  and  constant  in  holy  purposes,  but  in- 
flexible to  evil.  Make  me  humble  and  obedient,  peace- 
able and  pious  :  let  me  never  envy  any  man's  good,  nor 
deserve  to  be  despised  myself;  and  if  I  be,  teach  me  to 
bear  it  with  meekness  and  charity. 

V. 

Give  me  a  tender  conscience ;  a  conversation  discreet 
and  affable,  modest  and  patient,  liberal  and  obliging ;  a 
body  chaste  and  healthful,  competency  of  living  according 
to  my  condition,  contented ness  in  all  estates,  a  resigned 
will  and  mortified  affections ;  that  I  may  be,  as  thou 
wouldst  have  mc,  and  my  portion  may  be  in  the  lot  of  the 
righteous,  in  the  brightness  of  thy  countenance,  and  the 
glories  of  eternity.     Amen. 

Holy  is  our  God.  Holy  is  the  Almighty.  Holy  is  the 
Immortal.  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth,  have 
mercy  upon  me. 

A  Form  of  Prayer  for  the  Evening,  to  be  said  by  such,  who 
have  not  time  or  opportunity  to  say  the  public  prayers 
appointed  for  this  office, 

L 
Evening  Prayer. 
O  eternal  God,  great  Father  of  men  and  angels,  who 
hast  established  the  heavens  and  the  earth  in  a  wonder- 
ful order,  making  day  and  night  to  succeed  each  other  ; 
I  make  my  humble  address  to  thy  Divine  Majesty,  begging 
of  thee  mercy  and  protection  this  night  and  ever.     O  Lord, 
pardon  all  my  sins,  my  light  and  rash  words,  the  vanity  and 
impiety  of  my  thoughts,  my  unjust  and  uncharitable  ac- 
tions, and  whatsoever  I  have  transgressed  against  thee  this 
day,  or  at  any    time   before.      Behold,  O  God,   my  soul 
is  troubled  in  the  remembrance  of  my  sins,  in  the  frailty 
f2  «. 


42  DEVOTIONS  FOR 

and  sinfulness  of  my  flesh  exposed  to  every  temptation, 
and  of  itself  not  able  to  resist  any.  Lord  God  of  mercy, 
I  earnestly  beg  of  thee  to  give  a  great  portion  of  thy  grace, 
such  as  may  be  suflicient  and  effectual  for  the  mortification 
of  all  my  sins  and  vanities  and  disorders:  that  as  I  have 
formerly  served  my  lust  and  unworthy  desires,  so  now  I  may 
give  myself  up  wholly  to  thy  service  and  the  studies  of  a 
holy  life. 

II. 
Blessed  Lord,  teach  me  frequently  and  sadly  to  remem- 
ber my  sins ;  and  be  thou  pleased  to  remember  them  no 
more  :  let  me  never  forget  thy  mercies,  and  do  thou  still 
remember  to  do  me  good.  Teach  me  to  walk  always  as 
in  thy  presence  :  ennoble  my  soul  with  great  degrees  of 
love  to  thee,  and  consign  my  spirit  with  great  fear,  religion, 
and  veneration  of  thy  holy  name  and  laws  ;  that  it  may 
become  the  great  employment  of  my  whole  life  to  serve 
thee,  to  advance  thy  glory,  to  root  out  all  the  accursed 
habits  of  sin ;  that  in  holiness  of  life,  in  humility,  in  cha- 
rity, in  chastity,  and  all  the  ornaments  of  grace,  I  may,  by 
patience,  wait  for  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus.     Amen. 

III. 

Teach  me,  O  Lord,  to  number  my  days,  that  I  may  apply 
my  heart  unto  wisdom ;  ever  to  remember  my  last  end, 
that  I  may  not  dare  to  sin  against  thee.  Let  thy  holy  angels 
be  ever  present  with  me  to  keep  me  in  all  my  ways  from  the 
malice  and  violence  of  the  spirits  of  darkness,  from  evil 
company,  and  the  occasions  and  opportunities  of  evil,  from 
perishing  in  popular  judgments,  from  all  the  ways  of  sinful 
shame,  from  the  hands  of  all  mine  enemies,  from  a  sinful  life, 
and  from  despair  in  the  day  of  my  death.  Then,  O  bright- 
est Jesu,  shine  gloriously  upon  me ;  let  thy  mercies  and 
the  light  of  thy  countenance  sustain  me  in  all  my  agonies, 
weaknesses,  and  temptations.  Give  me  opportunity  of  a 
prudent  and  spiritual  guide;  and  of  receiving  the  holy  sa- 
crament, and  let  thy  loving  Spirit  so  guide  me  in  the  ways 
of  peace  and  safety,  that  with  the  testimony  of  a  good  con- 
science and  the  sense  of  thy  mercies  and  refreshment,  I 
may  depart  this  life  in  the  unity  of  the  church,  in  the  love 
of  God,  and  a  certain  hope  of  salvation,  througli  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord  and  most  blessed  Saviour.  Amen. 
Our  Father,  <&c. 


ORDINARY  DAYS.  43 

Another  Form  of  Evening  Prayer,  which  may  also  be  used 
at  Bed-time. 
Our  Father,  &c. 

I  will  lift  up  my  eyes  unto  the  hills,  from  whence  cometh 
my  help.* 

My  help  cometh  of  the  Lord,  which  made  heaven  and 
earth. 

He  will  not  suffer  thy  foot  to  be  moved  :  he  that  keepeth 
thee  will  not  slumber. 

Behold,  he  that  keepeth  Israel,  shall  neither  slumber  nor 
sleep. 

The  Lord  is  thy  keeper,  the  Lord  is  thy  shade,  upon  thy 
right  hand. 

The  sun  shall  not  smite  thee  by  day,  neither  the  moon  by 
night. 

The  Lord  shall  preserve  thee  from  all  evil ;  he  shall  pre- 
serve thy  soul. 

The  Lord  shall  preserve  thy  going  out  and  thy  coming  in, 
from  this  time  forth  for  evermore. 
Glory  be  to  the  Father,  &c. 

I. 

Visit,  I  beseech  thee,  O  Lord,  this  habitation  with  thy 
mercy,  and  me  with  thy  grace  and  salvation.  Let  thy 
holy  angels  pitch  their  tents  round  about  and  dwell  here, 
that  no  illusion  of  the  night  may  abuse  me,  the  spirits  of 
darkness  may  not  come  near  to  hurt  me,  no  evil  or  sad 
accident  oppress  me ;  and  let  the  eternal  Spirit  of  the 
Father  dwell  in  my  soul  and  body,  filling  every  corner  of 
my  heart  with  light  and  grace.  Let  no  deed  of  darkness 
overtake  me ;  and  let  thy  blessing,  most  blessed  God,  be 
upon  me  for  ever,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

IL 

Into  thy  hands,  most  blessed  Jesu,  I  commend  my  soul 
and  body,  for  thou  hast  redeemed  both  with  thy  most 
precious  blood.  So  bless  and  sanctify  my  sleep  unto  me, 
that  it  may  be  temperate,  holy,  and  saf^jj^efreshment 
to  my  wearied  body,  to  enable  it  so  to  ser^^^^  soul,  that 
both  may  serve  thee  with  a  never-failing  ^^H  O  let  me 
never  sleep  in  sin,  or  death  eternal,  but  giv^^H  a  watchful 
and  a  prudent  spirit,  that  I  may  omit  no  ^Hjrtunity  of 
serving  thee ;  that  whether  I  sleep  or  wal^^ive  or  die. 
*  Psalm  cxxi.  1,  &c. 


44  DEVOTIONS  FOR 

I  may  be  thy  servant  and  thy  child :  that  when  the  work 
of  my  life  is  done,  I  may  rest  in  the  bosom  of  my  Lord,  till 
by  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  the  trump  of  God,  I  shall 
be  awakened,  and  called  to  sit  down  and  feast  in  the  eternal 
supper  of  the  Lamb.  Grant  this,  O  Lamb  of  God,  for  the 
honour  of  thy  mercies,  and  the  glory  of  thy  name,  O  most 
merciful  Saviour  and  Redeemer  Jesus.     Amen. 

in. 

Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  who 
hath  sent  his  angels,  and  kept  me  this  day  from  the  de- 
struction that  walketh  at  noon,  and  the  arrow  that  flieth 
by  day ;  and  hath  given  me  his  Spirit  to  restrain  me  from 
those  evils,  to  which  my  own  weaknesses,  and  my  evil 
habits,  and  my  unquiet  enemies,  would  easily  betray  me. 
Blessed  and  for  ever  hallowed  be  thy  name,  for  that  never- 
ceasing  shower  of  blessing,  by  which  I  live,  and  am  con- 
tent and  blessed,  and  provided  for  in  all  necessities,  and 
set  forward  in  my  duty  and  way  to  heaven.  Blessing,  ho- 
nour, glory,  and  power,  be  unto  him  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne,  and  to  the  Lamb,  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 

Holy  is  our  God.  Holy  is  the  Almighty.  Holy  is  the 
Immortal.  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth,  have 
mercy  upon  me. 

Ejaculations  and  short  Meditations  to  he  used  in  the  Night, 
when  tve  wake. 

Stand  in  awe,  and  sin  not:  commune  with  your  own 
heart  upon  your  bed,  and  be  still.  I  will  lay  me  down  in 
peace  and  sleep ;  for  thou.  Lord,  only  makest  me  to  dwell 
in  safety.* 

O  Father  of  spirits,  and  the  God  of  all  flesh,  have 
mercy  and  pity  upon  all  sick  and  dying  Christians,  and 
receive  the  souls  which  thou  hast  redeemed  returning 
unto  thee. 

Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in  the  heavenly  Jerusalem, 
where  therc^amo  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  to 
shine  in  it:^Hthe  glory  of  God  does  lighten  it,  and  the 
Lamb  is  thWi^ht  thereof.f  And  there  shall  be  no  night 
there,  and  they  need  no  candle ;  for  the  Lord  God  giveth 
them  light,^nd  they  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever.ij: 

Meditatd^l  Jacob's  wrestling  with  the  angel  all  night : 
*  Psalm  iv.  4.  9  t  Rev  xxi.  23.  t  Rev.  xxii.  5. 


ORDINARY  DAYS.  45 

be  thou  also  importunate  with  God  for  a  blessing,  and  give 
not  over,  till  he  hath  blessed  thee. 

Meditate  on  the  angel  passing  over  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  destroying  the  Egyptians  for  disobedience  and  oppres- 
sion. Pray  for  the  grace  of  obedience  and  charity,  and  for 
the  divine  protection. 

Meditate  on  the  angel,  who  destroyed  in  a  night  the 
whole  army  of  the  Assyrians  for  fornication.  Call  to  mind 
the  sins  of  thy  youth,  the  sins  of  thy  bed ;  and  say  with 
David,  "  My  reins  chasten  me  in  the  night  season,  and  my 
soul  refuseth  comfort."  Pray  for  pardon  and  the  grace  of 
chastity. 

Meditate  on  the  agonies  of  Christ  in  the  garden,  his  sad- 
ness and  affliction  all  that  night ;  and  thank  and  adore  him 
for  his  love,  that  made  him  suffer  so  much  for  thee  ;  and  hate 
thy  sins,  which  made  it  necessary  for  the  Son  of  God  to  suf- 
fer so  much. 

Meditate  on  the  four  last  things.  1.  The  certainty  of 
death.  2.  The  terrors  of  the  day  of  judgment.  3.  The 
joys  of  heaven.  4.  The  pains  of  hell ;  and  the  eternity  of 
both. 

Think  upon  all  thy  friends,  who  are  gone  before  thee  ; 
and  pray  that  God  would  grant  to  thee  to  meet  them  in  a 
joyful  resurrection. 

"  The  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night;* 
in  the  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise, 
and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  a  fervent  heat ;  the  earth 
also,  and  the  works  that  are  therein,  shall  be  burnt  up. 
Seeing  then,  that  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved,  what 
manner  of  persons  ought  we  to  be,  in  all  holy  conversation 
and  godliness,  looking  for  and  hastening  unto  the  coming 
of  the  day  of  God?" 

Lord,  in  mercy  remember  thy  servant  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. 

Thou  shalt  answer  for  me,  O  Lord,  my  God.  In  thee, 
O  Lord,  have  I  trusted:  let  me  never  be  confounded. 
Amen.  ^^ 

I  desire  the  Christian  reader  to  observeJ|£at  all  tliese 
offices  or  forms  of  prayer  (if  they  should  be  used  every 
day)  would  not  spend  above  an  hour  and  a  half:  but  be- 
cause some  of  them  are  double  (and  so  but  one  of  them  to 
be  used  in  one  day)  it  is  much  less :  and  b^\fFording  to 
*  2  Pet.  iii.  10. 


4fi  DEVOTIONS  FOR  ORDINARY  DAYS. 

God  one  hour  in  twenty-four,  thou  mayest  have  the  comforts 
and  rewards  of  devotion.  But  he  that  thinks  this  is  too 
much,  either  is  very  busy  in  the  world,  or  very  careless  of 
heaven.  However,  I  have  parted  the  prayers  into  small 
portions,  that  he  may  use  which  and  how  many  he  please 
in  any  one  of  the  forms. 

Ad  Sect.  2. 

A  Prayer  for  holy  intention  in  the  heginning  and  pursuit  of 

any  conddei'ahle  action,  as  Study,  Preaching,  S^c. 

O  eternal  God,  who  hast  made  all  things  for  man,  and 
mun  for  thy  glory,  sanctify  my  body  and  soul,  my  thoughts 
and  my  intentions,  my  words  and  actions,  that  whatsoever 
I  shall  think,  or  speak,  or  do,  may  be  by  me  designed  to 
the  glorification  of  thy  name  ;  and  by  thy  blessing  it  may 
be  effective  and  successful  in  the  work  of  God,  according 
as  it  can  be  capable.  Lord  turn  my  necessities  into 
virtue ;  the  works  of  nature  into  the  works  of  grace,  by 
making  them  orderly,  regular,  temperate,  subordinate,  and 
profitable  to  ends  beyond  their  own  proper  efficacy  :  and 
let  no  pride  or  self-seeking,  no  covetousness  or  revenge, 
no  impure  mixture  or  unhandsome  purposes,  no  little 
ends  and  low  imaginations,  pollute  my  spirit,  and  un- 
hallow  any  of  my  words  and  actions:  but  let  my  body  be 
a  servant  of  my  spirit,  and  both  body  and  spirit  servants  of 
Jesus  ;  that  doing  all  things  for  thy  glory  here,  I  may  be 
partaker  of  thy  glory  hereafter ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.    Amen. 

Ad  Sect.  3. 
A  Prayer  meditating  and  referring  to  the  Divine  presence* 

IF  This  Prayer  is  specially  to  be  used  in  temptation  to 
private  sins. 

O  Almighty  God,  infinite  and  eternal,  thou  fillest  all 
things  with  thy  presence  ;  thou  art  every  where  by  thy 
essence  and  by  thy  power,  in  heaven  by  glory,  in  holy 
places  by  thy  grace  and  favour,  in  the  hearts  of  thy 
servants  by  thy  Spirit,  in  the  consciences  of  all  men  by 
thy  testimony  and  ol)servation  of  us.  Teach  me  to  walk 
always  as  in  thy  presence,  to  fear  thy  majesty,  to  reve- 
rence thy  wisdom  and  omniscience  ;  that  I  may  never  dare 
to  commit  anv  indecency  in  the  eye  of  my  Lord  and  my 
Judge  ;  butnnat  I  may,  with  so  much  care  and  reverence, 
demean  myself,  that  my  Judge  may  not  be  my  accuser, 


CHRISTIAN  SOBRIETY.  47 

but  my  advocate  ;  that  I,  expressing  the  belief  of  thy  pre^ 
sence  here  by  careful  wjflking,  may  feel  the  effects  of  it  in 
the  participation  of  eternal  glory,  through  Jesus  Christ. 
Amen. 

^^'^  CHAPTER  II. 

or  CHRISTIAN  SOBRIETY. 

SECTION  I. 
Of  Sobriety  in  the  general  sense. 

Christian  religion,  in  all  its  moral  parts,  is  nothing  else 
but  the  law  of  nature,  and  great  reason,  complying  with 
the  great  necessities  of  all  the  world,  and  promoting  the 
great  profit  of  all  relations,  and  carrying  us  through  all 
accidents  of  variety  of  chances  to  that  end,  which  God 
hath  from  eternal  ages  purposed  for  all  that  live  according 
to  it,  and  which  he  hath  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ :  and, 
according  to  the  apostle's  arithmetic,  hath  but  these  three 
parts  of  it;  1.  Sobriety,  2.  Justice,  3.  Religion.  "For 
the  grace  of  God  bringing  salvation  hath  appeared  to  all 
men,  teaching  us  that,  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly 
lusts,  we  should  live,  1.  Soberly,  2.  Righteously,  and, 
3.  Godly,  in  this  present  world,  looking  for  that  blessed 
hope  and  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  The  first  contains  all  our  deport- 
ment in  our  personal  and  private  capacities,  the  fair  treat- 
ing of  our  bodies  and  our  spirits.  The  second  enlarges 
our  duty  in  all  relations  to  our  neighbour.  The  third  con- 
tains the  offices  of  direct  religion,  and  intercourse  with 
God. 

Christian  sobriety  is  all  that  duty,  that  concerns  our- 
selves in  the  matter  of  meat,  and  drink,  and  pleasures, 
and  thoughts  ;  and  it  hath  within  it  the  duties  of  1.  Tem- 
perance, 2.  Chastity,  3.  Humility,  4.  Modesty,  5.  Content. 

It  is  a  using  severity,  denial  and  frustration  of  our  appe- 
tite, when  it  grows  unreasonable  in  any  of  these  instances : 
the  necessity  of  which  we  shall  to  best  purpose  understand., 
by  considering  the  evil  consequences  of  sensuality,  effemi- 
nacy, or  fondness  after  carnal  pleasures. 

Evil  consequences  of  Voluptuousness  or  Sensuality, 
1.  A  longing  after  sensual  pleasures  is  a  dissolution  of 
the  spirit  of  a  man,  and  makes  it  loose,  soft,  and  wander- 


48  CHRISTIAN  SOBRIETY. 

ing;  unapt  for  noble,  wise,  or  spiritual  employments;  be- 
cause the  principles,  upon  which  pleasure  is  chosen  and 
pursued,  are  sottish,  weak,  and  unlearned,  such  as  prefer 
the  body  before  the  soul,  the  appetite  before  reason,  sense 
before  the  spirit,  the  pleasures  of  a  sh^^X;  abode  before  the 
pleasures  of  eternity. 

2.  The  nature  of  sensual  pleasure  is  vain,  empty,  and 
unsatisfying',  biggest  always  in  expectation,  and  a  mere 
vanity  in  the  enjoying,  and  leaves  a  sting  and  thorn  be- 
hind it,  when  it  goes  off.  Our  laughing,  if  it  be  loud  and 
high,  commonly  ends  in  a  deep  sigh :  and  all  the  instances 
of  pleasure  have  a  sting  in  the  tail,  though  they  carry 
beauty  on  the  face  and  sweetness  on  the  lip. 

3.  Sensual  pleasure  is  a  great  abuse  to  the  spirit  of  a 
man,  being  a  kind  of  fascination  or  witchcraft,  blinding 
the  understanding  and  enslaving  the  will.  And  he  that 
knows  he  is  free-born  or  redeemed  with  the  blood  of  the 
Son  of  God,  will  not  easily  suffer  the  freedom  of  his  soul  to 
be  entangled  and  rifled. 

4.  It  is  most  contrary  to  the  state  of  a  Christian,  whose 
life  is  a  perpetual  exercise,  a  wrestling  and  warfare,  to 
which  sensual  pleasure  disables  him,  by  yielding  to  that 
enemy,  with  whom  he  must  strive,  if  ever  he  will  be 
crowned.  And  this  argument  the  apostle  intimated  :  "  He 
that  striveth  for  masteries  is  temperate  in  all  things  :  now 
they  do  it  to  obtain  a  corruptible  crown,  but  we  an  incor- 
ruptible."* 

5.  It  is  by  a  certain  consequence  the  greatest  impedi- 
ment in  the  world  to  martyrdom ;  that  being  a  fondness, 
this  being  a  cruelty  to  the  flesh ;  to  which  a  Christian 
man,  arriving  by  degrees,  must  first  have  crucified  the 
lesser  affections :  for  he,  that  is  overcome  by  little  argu- 
ments of  pain,  will  hardly  consent  to  lose  his  life  with  tor- 
ments. 

Degrees  of  Sohriety, 

Against  this  voluptuousness,  sobriety  is  opposed  in  three 
degrees. 

1.  A  despite  or  disaffection  to  pleasures,  or  a  resolving* 
against  all  entertainment  of  the  instances  and  temptations 
of  sensuality;  and  it  consists  in  the  internal  faculties  of 
will  and  understanding,  decreeing  and  declaring  against 

*  1  Cor.  ix.  25. 


CHRISTIAN  SOBRIETY.  49 

them,  disapproving  and  disliking  them,  upon  good  reason 
and  strong  resolution. 

2.  A  fight  and  actual  war  against  all  the  temptations 
and  offers  of  'sensual  pleasure  in  all  evil  instances  and  de- 
grees :  and  it  consists  in  prayer,  in  fasting,  in  cheap  diet, 
and  hard  lodging,  and  laborious  exercises,  and  avoiding 
occasions,  and  using  all  arts  and  industry  of  fortifying  the 
spirit,  and  making  it  severe,  manly,  and  Christian. 

3.  Spiritual  pleasure  is  the  highest  degree  of  sobriety  ^ 
and  in  the  same  degree,  in  which  we  relish  and  are  in  love 
with  spiritual  delijjhts,  the  hidden  manna,*  with  the  sweet- 
nesses of  devotion,' with  the  joys  of  thanksgiving,  with  re- 
joicings in  the  Lord,  with  the  comforts  of  hope,  with  the 
deliciousness  of  charity  and  alms-deeds,  with  the  sweet- 
ness of  a  good  conscience,  with  the  peace  of  meekness,  and 
the  felicities  of  a  contented  spirit ;  in  the  same  degree  we 
disrelish  and  loathe  the  husks  of  swinish  lusts,  and  the 
parings  of  the  apples  of  Sodom,  and  the  taste  of  sinful 
pleasures  is  unsavoury  as  the  drunkard's  vomit. 

Rules  for  suppressing  Voluptuousness, 
The  precepts  and  advices,  which  are  of  best  and  of  ge- 
neral use  in  the  curing  of  sensuality,  are  these  : 

1.  Aecustom  thyself  to  cut  off  all  superfluity  in  the  pro- 
visions of  thy  life,  for  our  desires  will  enlarge  beyond  the 
present  possession,  so  long  as  all  the  things  of  this  world 
are  unsatisfying ;  if  therefore  you  suffer  them  to  extend 
beyond  the  measures  of  necessity  or  moderated  conveni- 
ency,  they  will  still  swell ;  but  you  reduce  them  to  a  little 
compass,  when  you  make  nature  to  be  your  limit.  We 
must  take  more  care,  that  our  desires  should  cease,  than 
that  they  should  be  satisfied :  and  therefore  reducing  them 
to  narrow  scantlings  and  small  proportions  is  the  best  in- 
strument to  redeem  their  trouble,  and  prevent  the  dropsy, 
because  that  is  next  to  a  universal  denying  them ;  it  is 
certainly  a  paring  off  from  them  all  unreasonableness  and 
irregularity.  "For  whatsoever  covets  unseemly  things, 
and  is  apt  to  swell  to  an  inconvenient  bulk,  is  to  to  be  chas- 
tened and  tempered  ;  and  such  are  sensuality,  and  a  boy," 
said  the  philosopher. 

2.  Suppress  your  sensual  desires  in  their  first  approach ; 
for  then  they  are  least,  and  thy  faculties  and  election  are 

*  Apoc.  ii.  17 


50  CHRISTIAN  SOBRIETY. 

stronger ;  but  if  they,  in  their  weakness,  prevail  upon  thy 
strengths,  there  will  be  no  resisting  them  when  they  are  in- 
creased, and  thy  abilities  lessened.  "  You  shall  scarce  ob- 
tain of  them  to  end,  if  you  suffer  them  to  begin." 

3.  Divert  them  with  some  laudable  employment,  and 
take  off  their  edge  by  inadvertency,  or  a  not-attending  to 
them.  For  since  the  faculties  of  a  man  cannot  at  the  same 
time,  with  any  sharpness,  attend  to  two  objects,  if  you  em- 
ploy your  spirit  upon  a  book  or  a  bodily  labour,  or  any  in- 
nocent and  indifferent  employment,  you  have  no  room  left 
for  the  present  trouble  of  a  sensual  temptation.  For  to 
this  sense  it  was,  that  Alexander  told  tfle  Queen  of  Caria, 
that  his  tutor  Leonidas  had  provided  two  cooks  for  him ; 
"  Hard  marches  all  night,  and  a  small  dinner  the  next  day ;" 
these  tamed  his  youthful  aptnesses  to  dissolution,  so  long  as 
he  ate  of  their  provisions. 

4.  Look  upon  pleasures,  not  upon  that  side  that  is  next 
the  sun,  or  where  they  look  beauteously ;  that  is,  as  they 
come  towards  you  to  be  enjoyed,  for  then  they  paint,  and 
smile,  and  dress  themselves  up  in  tinsel  and  glass  gems, 
and  counterfeit  imagery  ;  but  when  thou  hast  rifled  and 
discomposed  them  with  enjoying  their  false  beauties,  and 
that  they  begin  to  go  off,  then  behold  them  in  their  naked- 
ness and  weariness.  See,  what  a  sigh  and  sorrow,  what 
naked  unhandsome  proportions,  and  a  filthy  carcass,  they 
discover  ;  and  the  next  time  they  counterfeit,  remember 
what  you  have  already  discovered,  and  be  no  more  abused. 
And  I  have  known  some  wise  persons  have  advised  to  cure 
the  passions  and  longings  of  their  children,  by.  letting  them 
taste  of  every  thing  they  passionately  fancied  ;  for  they 
should  be  sure  to  find  less  in  it  than  they  looked  for,  and 
the  impatience  of  their  being  denied  would  be  loosened 
and  made  slack;  and  when  our  wishings  are  no  bigger 
than  the  thing  deserves,  and  our  usages  of  them  according 
to  our  needs  (which  may  be  obtained  by  trying  what  they 
are,  and  what  good  they  can  do  us,)  we  shall  find  in  all 
pleasures  so  little  entertainment,  that  the  vanity  of  the 
possession  will  soon  reprove  the  violence  of  the  appetite. 
And  if  this  permission  be  in  innocent  instances,  it  may  be 
of  good  use  ;  but  Solomon  tried  it  in  all  things,  taking  his 
fill  of  all  pleasures,  and  soon  grew  weary  of  them  all. 
The  same  thing  we  may  do  by  reason,  which  we  do  by 
experience,  if  either  we  will  look  upon  pleasures,  as  we  are 


OF  TEMPERANCE  IN  EATING.  51 

sure  they  look  when  they  go  off,  after  their  enjoyment ;  or 
if  we  will  credit  the  experience  of  those  men,  who  have 
tasted  them  and  loathed  them. 

5.  Often  consider  and  contemplate  the  joys  of  heaven, 
that  when  they  have  filled  thy  desires  which  are  the  sails 
of  the  soul,  thou  mayest  steer  only  thither,  and  never  more 
look  back  to  Sodom.  And  when  thy  soul  dwells  above,  and 
looks  down  upon  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  they  seem  like 
things  at  distance,  little  and  contemptible,  and  men  running 
after  the  satisfiiction  of  their  sottish  appetites  seem  foolish 
as  fishes,  thousands  of  them  running  after  a  rotten  worm, 
that  covers  a  deadly  hook ;  or,  at  the  best,  but  like  children, 
with  great  noise  pursuing  a  bubble  rising  from  a  walnut- 
shell,  which  ends  sooner  than  the  noise. 

6.  To  this  the  example  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  of 
Moses,  and  all  the  wise  men  of  all  ages  of  the  world,  will 
much  help ;  who,  understanding  how  to  distinguish  good 
from  evil,  did  choose  a  sad  and  melancholy  way  to  felicity, 
rather  than  the  broad,  pleasant,  and  easy  path,  to  folly,  and 
misery. 

But  thia  is  but  the  general.  Its  first  particular  is  tem- 
perance. 

SECTION  II. 

Of  Temperance  in  Eating  and  DrinTdng, 

Sobriety  is  the  bridle  of  the  passion  of  desire,  and  tem- 
perance is  the  bit  and  curb  of  that  bridle,  a  restraint  put 
into  a  man's  mouth,  a  moderate  use  of  meat  and  drink,  so 
as  may  best  consist  with  our  health,  and  may  not  hinder 
but  help  the  works  of  the  soul  by  its  necessary  supporting 
us,  and  ministering  cheerfulness  and  refreshment. 

Temperance  consists  in  the  actions  of  the  soul  princi- 
pally ;  for  it  is  a  grace  that  chooses  natural  means  in  order 
to  proper,  and  natural,  and  holy  ends :  it  is  exercised 
about  eating  and  drinking,  because  they  are  necessary; 
but  therefore  it  permits  the  use  of  them,  only  as  they  mi- 
nister to  lawful  ends  ;  it  does  not  eat  and  drink  for  plea- 
sure, but  for  need,  and  for  refreshment,  which  is  a  part  or 
a  degree  of  need.  I  deny  not  but  eating  and  drinking 
may  be,  and  in  healthful  bodies,  always  is,  with  pleasure; 
because  there  is  in  nature  no  greater  pleasure,  than  that  all 
the  appetites,  which  God  hath  made,  should  be  satisfied : 
and  a  man  may  choose  a  morsel  that  is  pleasant,  the  less 


52  OF  TEMPERANCE 

pleasant  being  rejected  as  being  less  useful,  less  apt  to 
nourish,  or  more  agreeing  with  an  infirm  stomach,  or  when 
the  day  is  festival  by  order,  or  by  private  joy.  In  all  these 
cases  it  is  permitted  to  receive  a  more  free  delight,  and  to 
design  it  too,  as  the  less  principal :  that  is,  that  the  chief 
reason  why  we  choose  the  more  delicious,  be  the  serving 
that  end,  for  which  such  refreshments  and  choices  are  per- 
mitted. But  when  delight  is  the  only  end,  and  rests  itself, 
and  dwells  there  long,  then  eating  and  drinking  is  not  a 
serving  of  God,  but  an  inordinate  action ;  because  it  is 
not  in  the  way  to  that  end,  whither  God  directed  it.  But 
the  choosing  of  a  delicate  before  a  more  ordinary  dish  is 
to  be  done,  as  other  human  actions  are,  in  which  there  are 
no  degrees  and  precise  natural  limits  described,  but  a  la- 
titude is  indulged ;  it  must  be  done  moderately,  prudently, 
and  according  to  the  accounts  of  wise,  religious,  and  sober 
men  ;  and  then  God,  who  gave  us  such  variety  of  creatures 
and  our  choice  to  use  which  we  will,  may  receive  glory 
from  our  temperate  use,  and  thanksgiving ;  and  we  may  use 
them  indifferently  without  scruple,  and  a  making  them  to 
bccoms  snares  to  us,  either  by  too  licentious  and  studied 
use  of  them,  or  restrained  and  scrupulous  fear  of  using  them 
at  all,  but  in  such  certain  circumstances,  in  which  no  man 
can  be  sure  he  is  not  mistaken. 

But  temperance  in  meat  and  drink  is  to  be  estimated  by 
the  following  measures. 

Measures  of  Temperance  in  Eating, 

1.  Eat  not  before  the  time,  unless  necessity,  or  charity, 
or  any  intervening  accident,  which  may  make  it  reason- 
able and  prudent  should  happen.  Remember,  it  had  al- 
most cost  Jonathan  his  life,  because  he  tasted  a  little  honey 
before  the  sun  went  down,  contrary  to  the  king's  command- 
ment ;  and  although  a  great  need,  which  he  had,  excused 
him  from  the  sin  of  gluttony,  yet  it  is  inexcusable,  when 
thou  eatest  before  the  usual  time,  and  thrustest  thy  hand 
into  the  dish  unseasonably,  out  of  greediness  of  the  pleasure, 
and  impatience  of  the  delay. 

2.  Eat  not  hastily  and  impatiently,  but  with  such  decent 
and  timely  action,  that  your  eating  be  a  human  act,  sub- 
ject to  deliberation  and  choice,  and  that  you  may  consider 
in  the  eating :  whereas  he  that  eats  hastily,  cannot  consi- 
der particularly  of  the  circumstances,  degrees,  and  little 


IN  EATING.  53 

p^cidents  and  chances,  that  happen  in  his  meal ;  but  may 
contract  many  little  indecencies,  and  be  suddenly  surprised. 

3.  Eat  not  delicately,  or  nicely,  that  is,  be  not  trouble- 
some to  thyself  or  others  in  the  choice  of  thy  meats,  or  the 
delicacy  of  thy  sauces.  It  was  imputed  as  a  sin  to  the 
sons  of  Israel,  that  they  loathed  manna  and  longed  for 
flesh:  "the  quails  stuck  in  their  nostrils,  and  the  wrath  of 
God  fell  upon  them."  And  for  the  manner  of  dressing, 
the  sons  of  Eli  were  noted  of  indiscreet  curiosity  :  they 
would  not  have  the  flesh  boiled,  but  raw,  that  they  might 
roast  it  with  fire.  Not  that  it  was  a  sin  to  eat  it,  or  desire 
meat  roasted  ;  but  that  when  it  was  appointed  to  be  boiled, 
they  refused  it :  which  declared  it  an  intemperate  and  a  nice 
palate.  It  is  lawful  in  all  senses  to  comply  with  a  weak 
and  a  nice  stomach :  but  not  with  a  nice  and  curious  pa- 
late. When  our  health  requires  it,  that  ought  to  be  pro- 
vided for ;  but  not  so  our  sensuality  and  intemperate  long- 
ings. Whatsoever  is  set  before  you,  eat ;  if  it  be  provided 
for  you,  you  may  eat  it,  be  it  ever  so  delicate  ;  and  be  it 
plain  and  common,  so  it  be  wholesome,  and  fit  for  you,  it 
must  not  be  refused  upon  curiosity :  for  every  degree  of 
that  is  a  degree  of  intemperance.  Happy  and  innocent 
were  the  ages  of  our  forefathers,  who  ate  herbs  and  parched 
corn,  and  drank  the  pure  stream,  and  broke  their  fast  with 
nuts  and  roots  ;  and  when  they  were  permitted  flesh,  ate  it 
only  dressed  with  hunger  and  fire  ;  and  the  first  sauce  they 
had  was  bitter  herbs,  and  sometimes  bread  dipped  in  vine- 
gar. But,  in  this  circumstance,  moderation  is  to  be  reck- 
oned in  proportion  to  the  present  customs,  to  the  company, 
to  education,  and  the  judgment  of  honest  and  wise  persons, 
and  the  necessities  of  nature. 

4.  Eat  not  too  much :  load  neither  thy  stomach  nor  thy 
understanding.  "  If  thou  sit  at  a  bountiful  table,  be  not 
greedy  upon  it,  and  say  not  there  is  much  meat  on  it.  Re- 
member that  a  wicked  eye  is  an  evil  thing :  and  what  is 
created  more  wicked  than  an  eye  ?  Therefore  it  weepeth 
upon  every  occasion.  Stretch  not  thy  hand  withersoever  it 
looketh,  and  thrust  it  not  with  him  into  the  dish.  A  very 
little  is  sufficient  for  a  man  well  nurtured,  and  he  fetcheth 
not  his  wind  short  upon  his  bed." 

Signs  and  Effects  of  Temperance. 
We  shall  best  know,  that  we  have  the  grace  of  temper- 
G  2 


64  OF  TEMPERANCE 

ance  by  the  following  signs,  which  are  as  so  many  argu- 
ments to  engage  us  also  upon  its  study  and  practice. 

1.  A  temperate  man  is  modest:  greediness  is  unman- 
nerly and  rude.  And  this  is  intimated  in  the  advice  of  the 
son  of  Sirach,  "  When  thou  sittest  amongst  many,  reach 
not  thy  hand  out  first  of  all.  Leave  off  first  for  manners' 
sake,  and  be  not  insatiable,  lest  thou  offend."  2.  Tem- 
perance is  accompanied  with  gravity  of  deportment :  gree- 
diness is  garish,  and  rejoices  loosely  at  the  sight  of  dain- 
ties. 3.  Sound,  but  moderate,  sleep,  is  its  sign  and  its 
effect.  Sound  sleep  cometh  of  moderate  eating :  he  riseth 
early,  and  his  wits  are  with  him.  4.  A  spiritual  joy  and 
a  devout  prayer.  5.  A  suppressed  and  seldom  anger. 
6.  A  command  of  our  thoughts  and  passions.  7.  A  sel- 
dom-returning, and  a  never-prevailing  temptation.  8.  To 
which  add,  that  a  temperate  person  is  not  curious  of  fan- 
cies and  deliciousness.  He  thinks  not  much^  and  speaks 
not  often,  of  meat  and  drink ;  hath  a  healthful  body  and 
long  life,  unless  it  be  hindered  by  some  other  accident : 
whereas  to  gluttony,  the  pain  of  watching  and  choler,  the 
pangs  of  the  belly  are  continual  company.  And  therefore 
Stratonicas  said  handsomely  concerning  the  luxury  of  the 
Rhodians,  "  They  built  houses,  as  if  they  were  immortal  ; 
but  they  feasted,  as  if  they  meant  to  live  but  a  little  while." 
And  Antipater,  by  his  reproach  of  the  old  glutton  Demades, 
well  expressed  the  baseness  of  this  sin,  saying,  that  De- 
mades, now  old,  and  always  a  glutton,  was  like  a  spent 
sacrifice,  nothing  left  of  him  but  his  belly  and  his  tongue, 
all  the  man  besides  is  gone. 

Of  Drunkenness. 
But  I  desire  that  it  be  observed,  that  because  intempe- 
rance in  eating  is  not  so  soon  perceived  by  others  as  im- 
moderate drinking,  and  the  outward  visible  effects  of  it  are 
not  either  so  notorious  or  so  ridiculous,  therefore  gluttony 
is  not  of  so  great  disreputation  amongst  men  as  drunken- . 
ness ;  yet,  according  to  its  degree,  it  puts  on  the  greatness 
of  the  sin  before  God,  and  is  most  strictly  to  be  attended 
to,  lest  we  be  surprised  by  our  security  and  want  of  dili- 
gence, and  the  intemperance  is  alike  criminal  in  both,  ac- 
cording as  the  affections  are  either  to  the  meat  or  drink. 
Gluttony  is  more  uncharitable  to  the  body,  and  drunken- 
ness to  the  soul,  or  the  understanding  part  of  man  ;  and 


IN  DRINKING.  55 

therqfore  in  Scripture  is  more  frequently  forbidden  and  de- 
claimed against  than  the  other :  and  sobriety  hath  by  use 
obtained  to  signify  temperance  in  drinking. 

Drunkenness  is  an  immoderate  affection  and  use  of 
drink.  That  I  call  immoderate,  that  is  besides  or  beyond 
that  order  of  good  things,  for  which  God  hath  given  us  the 
use  of  drink.  The  ends  are  digestion  of  our  meat,  cheer- 
fulness and  refreshment  of  our  spirits,  or  any  end  of  health ; 
besides  which,  if  we  go,  or  at  any  time  beyond  it,  it  is  in- 
ordinate and  criminal,  it  is  the  vice  of  drunkenness.  It  is 
forbidden  by  our  blessed  Saviour  in  these  words  :*  "  Take 
heed  to  yourselves,  lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  be  over- 
charged with  surfeiting  and  drunkenness  :"  surfeiting,  that 
is  the  evil  effects,  the  sottishness  and  remaining  stupidity 
of  habitual,  or  of  the  last  night's  drunkenness.  For  Christ 
forbids  both  the  actual  and  habitual  intemperance  ;  not  only 
the  effect  of  it,  but  also  the  affection  to  it ;  for  in  both 
there  is  sin.  He  that  driftiks  but  little,  if  that  little  make 
him  drunk,  and  if  he  know  before  hand  his  own  infirmity, 
is  guilty  of  surfeiting,  not  of  drunkenness.  But  he  that 
drinks  much,  and  is  strong  to  bear  it,  and  is  not  deprived 
of  his  reasons  violently,  is  guilty  of  the  sin  of  drunkenness. 
It  is  a  sin,  not  to  prevent  such  uncharitable  effects  upon 
the  body  and  understanding :  and  therefore  a  man  that 
loves  not  the  drink,  is  guilty  of  surfeiting,  if  he  does  not 
watch  to  prevent  the  evil  effect:  and  it  is  a  sin  and  the 
greater  of  the  two,  inordinately  to  love  or  to  use  the  drink, 
though  the  surfeiting  or  violence  do  not  follow.  Good 
therefore  is  the  counsel  of  the  son  of  Sirach,  "  Show  not 
thy  valiantness  in  wine ;  for  wine  hath  destroyed  many." 

Evil  consequents  to  Drunkenness. 
The  evils  and  sad  consequents  of  drunkenness  (the  con- 
sideration of  which  are  as  so  many  arguments  to  avoid  the 
sin)  are  to  this  sense  reckoned  by  the  writers  of  holy  Scrip- 
ture, and  other  wise  personages  of  the  world.  1.  It 
cause  Lh  woes  and  mischief, f  wounds  and  sorrow,  sin  and 
shame  ;  it  maketh  bitterness  of  spirit,  brawling  and  quar- 
relling ;  it  increaseth  rage  and  lesseneth  strength ;  it 
maketh  red  eyes,  and  a  loose  and  babbling  tongue.  2.  It 
particularly  ministers  to  lust,  and  yet  disables  the  body  ; 
so  that  in  effect  it  makes  man  wanton  as  a  satyr,  and  im- 
*  Luke  xxi.  34-  t  Prov.  xxiii.  29. 


56  OF  TEMPERANCE  IN  DRINKING. 

potent  as  ag-e.  And  Solomon,  in  enumerating  the  evils  of 
this  vice,  adds  this  to  the  account,*  "  thine  eyes  shall  be- 
hold strange  women,  and  thine  heart  shall  utter  perverse 
things  ;"  as  if  the  drunkard  were  only  desire,  and  then  im- 
patience muttering  and  enjoying  like  an  eunuch  embracing 
a  woman.  3.  It  besots  and  hinders  the  actions  of  the  un- 
derstanding, making  a  man  brutish  in  his  passions,  and  a 
fool  in  his  reason  ;  and  differs  nothing  from  madness,  but 
that  it  is  voluntary,  and  so  is  an  equal  evil  in  nature, 
and  a  worse  in  manners.  4.  It  takes  off  all  the  guards, 
and  lets  loose  the  reigns  of  all  those  evils,  to  which  a  man  is 
by  his  nature  or  is  by  evil  customs  inclined,  and  from  which 
he  is  restrained  by  reason  and  severe  principles.  Drunk- 
enness calls  off  the  watchmen  from  their  towers ;  and  then 
all  the  evils  that  can  proceed  from  a  loose  heart,  and  an 
untied  tongue,  and  a  dissolute  spirit,  and  an  unguarded, 
unlimited  will,  all  that  we  may  put  upon  the  accounts  of 
drunkenness.  5.  It  extinguishes  and  quenches  the  Spi- 
rit of  God,  for  no  man  can  be  filled  with  the  spirit  of  God 
and  with  wine  at  the  same  time.  And  therefore  St.  Paul 
makes  them  exclusive  of  each  other  :"|"  "  Be  not  drunk  with 
wine  wherein  is  excess ;  but  be  filled  with  the  Spirit." 
And  since  Joseph's  cup  was  put  into  Benjamin's  sack,  no 
man  had  a  divining  goblet.  6.  It  opens  all  the  sanctua- 
ries of  nature,  and  discovers  the  nakedness  of  the  soul,  all 
its  weaknesses  and  follies;  it  multiplies  sins  and  discovers 
tliem ;  it  makes  a  man  incapable  of  being  a  private  friend, 
or  a  public  counsellor.  7.  It  taketh  a  man's  soul  into 
slavery  and  imprisonment  more  than  any  vice  whatsoever,:]: 
because  it  disarms  a  man  of  all  his  reason  and  his  wisdom, 
wherebv  he  might  be  cured,  and  therefore  commonly  it 
grows  upon  him  with  age  ;  a  drunkard  being  still  more  a 
fool  and  less  a  man.  I  need  not  add  any  sad  examples, 
since  all  story  and  all  ages  have  too  many  of  them.  Am- 
mon  was  slain  by  his  brother  Absolom,  Avhen  he  was  warm 
and  high  with  wine.  Simon  the  high-priest,  and  two  of 
his  sons,  were  slain  by  their  brother  at  a  drunken  feast. 
Holofernes  was  drunk  when  Judith  slew  him ;  and  all  the 
great  things  that  Daniel  spake  of  Alexander,  were  drowned 
with  a  surfeit  of  one  night's  intemperance  ;  and  the  drunk- 
enness of  Noah  and  Lot  are  upon  record  to  eternal  ages, 
that  in  those  early  instances,  and  righteous  persons,  and 
*  Prov.  xxiii.  33.  t  Ephes.  v.  18.  t  Prov.  xxxi.  4. 


OF  TEMPERANCE.  57 

less  criminal  drunkenness,  than  is  that  of  Christians  in  this 
period  of  the  world,  God  might  show,  that  very  great  evils 
are  prepared  to  punish  this  vice ;  no  less  than  shame,  and 
slavery,  and  incest ;  the  first  upon  Noah,  the  second  upon 
one  of  his  sons,  and  the  third  in  the  person  of  Lot. 
Signs  of  Drunkenness. 

But  if  it  be  inquired  concerning  the  periods  and  distinct 
significations  of  this  crime ;  and  when  a  man  is  said  to  be 
drunk ;  to  this  I  answer,  that  drunkenness  is  in  the  same 
manner  to  be  judged  as  sickness.  As  every  illness  or  vio- 
lence done  to  health,  in  every  part  of  its  continuance,  is  a 
part  or  degree  of  sickness ;  so  is  every  going  off  from  our 
natural  and  common  temper  and  our  usual  severity  of  be- 
haviour, a  degree  of  drunkenness.  He  is  not  only  drunk, 
that  can  drink  no  more  ;  for  few  are  so :  but  he  hath  sinned 
in  a  degree  ot  drunkenness,  who  hath  done  any  thing  to- 
wards it  beyond  his  proper  measure.  But  its  parts  and 
periods  are  usually  thus  reckoned.  1.  Apish  gestures.  2. 
Much  talking.  3.  Immoderate  laughing.  4.  Dulness  of 
sense.  5.  Scurrility,  that  is,  wanton,  or  jeering,  or  abusive 
language.  6.  A  useless  understanding.  7.  Stupid  sleep* 
.8.  Epilepsies,  or  fallings  and  reelings,  and  beastly  vomitings. 
The  least  of  these,  even  when  the  tongue  begins  to  be  un- 
tied, is  a  degree  of  drunkenness. 

But  that  we  may  avoid  the  sin  of  intemperance  in  meats 
and  drinks,  besides  the  former  rules  of  measures,  these 
counsels  also  may  be  useful. 

Rules  for  obtaining  Temperance. 

1.  Be  not  often  present  at  feasts,  nor  at  all  in  dissolute 
company,  when  it  may  be  avoided  :  for  variety  of  pleasing 
objects  steals  away  the  heart  of  man ;  and  company  is 
either  violent  or  enticing ;  and  we  are  weak  or  complying, 
or  perhaps  desirous  enough  to  be  abused.  But  if  you  be 
unavoidably  or  indiscreetly  engaged,  let  not  mistaken  civi- 
lity or  good  nature  engage  thee  either  to  the  temptation  of 
staying  (if  thou  understandest  thy  weakness,)  or  the  sin  of 
drinking  inordinately. 

2.  Be  severe  in  your  judgment  concerning  your  pro- 
portions, and  let  no  occasion  make  you  enlarge  far  beyond 
your  ordinary.  For  a  man  is  surprised  by  parts  ;  and 
while  he  thinks  one  glass  more  will  not  make  him  drunk, 
that  one  glass  hath  disabled  him  from  well  discerning  his 


58  OF  TEMPERANCE. 

present  condition  and  neighbour  danger.  "While  men 
think  themselves  wise,  they  become  fools  :"  they  think  they 
shall  taste  the  aconite  and  not  die,  or  crown  their  heads  with 
juice  of  poppy  and  not  be  drowsy ;  and  if  they  drink  off  the 
whole  vintage,  still  they  think  they  can  swallow  another 
goblet.  But  remember  this,  whenever  you  begin  to  consi- 
der, whether  you  may  safely  take  one  draught  more,  it  is  then 
high  time  to  give  over.  Let  that  be  accounted  a  sign  late 
enough  to  break  off;  for  every  reason  to  doubt,  is  a  sufficient 
reason  to  part  the  company. 

3.  Come  not  to  table,  but  when  thy  need  invites  thee : 
and  if  thou  beest  in  health,  leave  something  of  thy  appetite 
unfilled,  something  of  thy  natural  heat  unemployed,  that  it 
may  secure  thy  digestion,  and  serve  other  needs  of  nature 
or  the  spirit. 

4.  Propound  to  thyself  (if  thou  beest  in  ti  capacity)  a 
constant  rule  of  living,  of  eating  and  drinking:  which 
though  it  may  not  be  fit  to  observe  scrupulously,  lest  it  be- 
come a  snare  to  thy  conscience,  or  endanger  thy  health 
upon  every  accidental  violence  ;  yet  let  not  thy  rule  be  bro- 
ken  often  nor  much,  but  upon  great  necessity  and  in  small 
degrees. 

5.  Never  urge  any  man  to  eat  or  drink  beyond  his  own 
limits  and  his  own  desires.  He  that  does  otherwise,  is 
drunk  with  his  brother's  surfeit,  and  reels  and  falls  with 
his  intemperance  ;  that  is,  the  sin  of  drunkenness  is  upon 
both  their  scores  ;  they  both  lie  wallowing  in  the  guilt. 

6.  Use  St.  Paul's  instruments  of  sobriety :  "  Let  us  who 
are  of  the  day,  be  sober,  putting  on  the  breast-plate  of 
faith  and  love,  and  for  an  helmet  the  hope  of  salvation." 
Faith,  hope,  and  chari-ty,  are  the  best  weapons  in  the 
world  to  fight  against  intemperance.  The  faith  of  the  Ma- 
hometans forbids  them  to  drink  wine,  and  they  abstain  reli- 
giously, as  the  sons  of  Rechab  :  and  the  faith  of  Christ 
forbids  drunkenness  to  us  ;  and  therefore  is  infinitely  more 
powerful  to  suppress  this  vice,  when  we  remember,  that 
we  are  Christians,  and  to  abstain  from  drunkenness  and 
gluttony  is  part  of  the  faith  and  discipline  of  Jesus,  and 
tliat  with  these  vices  neither  our  love  to  God,  nor  our  hopes 
of  heaven  can  possibly  consist ;  and  therefore,  when  these 
enter  the  heart,  the  others  go  out  at  the  mouth ;  for  this  is 
the  devil,  that  is  cast  out  by  fasting  and  prayer,  which  are 
the  proper  actions  of  these  graces. 


OF  CHASTITV.  59 

7.  As  a  pursuance  of  this  rule,  it  is  a  good  advice,  that 
as  we  begin  and  end  all  our  times  of  eating  with  prayer 
and  thanksgiving ;  so,  at  the  meal,  we  remove  and  carry 
up  our  mind  and  spirit  to  the  celestial  table,  often  think- 
ing of  it,  and  often  desiring  it ;  that  by  enkindling  thy  de- 
sire to  heavenly  banquets,  thou  mayest  be  indifferent  and 
less  passionate  for  the  earthly. 

8.  Mingle  discourses,  pious,  or  in  some  sense  profitable, 
and  in  all  senses  charitable  and  innocent,  with  thy  meal,  as 
occasion  is  ministered. 

9.  Let  your  drink  so  serve  your  meat,  as  your  meat 
doth  your  health ;  that  it  may  be  apt  to  convey  and  digest 
it,  and  refresh  the  spirits  ;  but  let  it  never  go  beyond  such 
a  refreshment,  as  may  a  little  heighten  the  present  load  of 
a  sad  or  troubled  spirit ;  never  to  inconvenience,  lightness, 
sottishness,  vanity,  or  intemperance  ;  and  know,  that  the 
loosing  the  bands  of  the  tongue,  and  the  very  first  dissolu- 
tion of  its  duty,  is  one  degree  of  the  intemperance. 

10.  In  all  cases  be  careful,  that  you  be  not  brought  un- 
der the  power  of  such  things,  which  otherwise  are  lawful 
enough  in  the  use.  "  All  things  are  lawful  for  me  ;  but  I 
will  not  be  brought  under  the  power  of  any  thing;"  said  St 
Paul.  And  to  be  perpetually  longing,  and  impatiently 
desirous  of  any  thing,  so  that  a  man  cannot  abstain  from 
it,  is  to  lose  a  man's  liberty,  and  to  become  a  servant  of 
meat  and  drink,  or  smoke.  And  I  wish  this  last  instance 
were  more  considered  by  persons,  who  little  suspect  them- 
selves guilty  of  intemperance,  though  their  desires  are  strong 
and  impatient,  and  the  use  of  it  perpetual  and  unreasona- 
ble to  all  purposes,  but  that  they  have  made  it  habitual  and 
necessary,  as  intemperance  itself  is  made  to  some  men. 

11.  Use  those  advices,  which  are  prescribed  as  instru- 
ments to  suppress  voluptuousness,  in  the  foregoing  section. 

SECTION  III. 

Of  Chastity, 
Reader,  stay,  and  read  not  the  advices  of  the  following 
section,  unless  thou  hast  a  chaste  spirit ;  or  desirest  to 
be  chaste  ;  or  at  least  are  apt  to  consider,  whether  you 
ought  or  no.  For  there  are  some  spirits  so  atheistical, 
and  some  so  wholly  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  unclean- 
ness,  that   they   turn  the   most  prudent   and   chaste  dis- 


60  OF  CHASTITY. 

Courses  into  dirt  and  filthy  apprehensions;  like  choleric 
stomachs,  changing  their  very  cordials  and  medicines  into 
bitterness  ;  and,  in  a  literal  sense,  turning  the  grace  of  God 
into  wantonness.  They  study  cases  of  conscience  in  the 
matter  of  carnal  sins  not  to  avoid  but  to  learn  ways  how 
to  offend  God  and  pollute  their  own  spirits ;  and  search 
their  houses  with  a  sun-beam,  that  they  may  be  instructed 
in  all  the  corners  of  nastiness.  I  have  used  all  the  care  I 
could,  in  the  following  periods,  that  I  might  neither  be 
wanting  to  assist  those,  that  need  it,  nor  yet  minister  any 
occasion  of  fancy  or  vainer  thoughts  to  those,  that  need 
them  not.  If  any  man  will  snatch  the  pure  taper  from  my 
hand,  and  hold  it  to  the  devil,  he  will  only  burn  his  own 
fingers,  but  shall  not  rob  me  of  the  reward  of  my  care  and 
good  intention,  since  I  have  taken  heed  how  to  express 
the  following  duties,  and  given  him  caution  how  to  read 
them. 

Chastity  is  that  duty,  which  was  mystically  intended  by 
God  in  the  law  of  circumcision.  It  is  the  circumcision  of 
the  heart,  the  cutting  off  all  superfluity  of  naughtiness,  and 
a  suppression  of  all  irregular  desires  in  the  matter  of  a 
sensual  or  carnal  pleasure.  I  call  all  desires  irregular  and 
sinful,  that  are  not  sanctified:  1.  By  the  holy  institution, 
or  by  being  within  the  protection  of  marriage ;  2.  By 
being  within  the  order  of  nature  ;  3.  By  being  within  the 
moderation  of  Christian  modesty.  Against  the  first  are 
fornication,  adultery,  and  all  voluntary  pollutions  of  either 
sex.  Against  the  second  are  all  unnatural  lusts  and  inces- 
tuous mixtures.  Against  the  third  is  all  immoderate  use  of 
permitted  beds ;  concerning  which  judgment  is  to  be  made, , 
as  concerning  meats  and  drinks  ;  there  being  no  certain  de- 
gree of  frequency  or  intention  prescribed  to  all  persons, 
but  it  is  to  be  ruled  as  the  other  actions  of  a  man,  by  pro- 
portion to  the  end,  by  the  dignity  of  the  person  in  the  ho- 
nour and  severity  of  being  a  Christian,  and  by  other  circum- 
stances, of  which  I  am  to  give  account. 

Chastity  is  that  grace,  which  forbids  and  restrains  all 
these,  keeping  the  body  and  soul  pure  in  that  state,  in 
which  it  is  placed  by  God,  whether  of  the  single  or  of  the 
married  life.  Concerning  which  our  duty  is  thus  described 
by  St.  Paul,  "  For  this  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your  sanc- 
tification,  that  ye  should  abstain  from  fornication :  that 
every  one  of  you  should  know  how  to  possess  his  vessel  in 


OF  CHASTITY.  61 

san/3tification  and  honour;  not  in  the  lust  of  concupiscence, 
even  as  the  Gentiles  which  know  not  God."* 

Chastity  is  either  abstinence  or  continence.  Abstinence 
is  that  of  virgins  or  widows :  continence  of  married  per- 
sons. Chaste  marriages  are  honourable  and  pleasing  to 
God  :  widowhood  is  pitiable  in  its  solitariness  and  loss,  but 
amiable  and  comely,  when  it  is  adorned  with  gravity  and 
purity,  and  not  sullied  with  remembrances  of  the  passed 
licence,  nor  with  present  desires  of  returning  to  a  second 
bed.  But  virginity  is  a  life  of  angels,  the  enamel  of  the 
soul,  the  huge  advantage  of  religion,  the  great  opportunity 
for  the  retirements  of  devotion  :  and,  being  empty  of  cares, 
it  is  full  of  prayers  ;  being  unmingled  with  the  world,  it  is 
apt  to  converse  with  God  ;  and  by  not  feeling  the  warmth 
of  a  too-forward  and  indulgent  nature,  flames  out  with  holy 
fires,  till  it  be  burning  like  the  cherubim  and  the  most  ec- 
stasied  order  of  holy  and  unpolluted  spirits. 

Natural  virginity,  of  itself,  is  not  a  state  more  acceptable 
to  God :  but  that  which  is  chosen  and  voluntary,  in  order 
to  the  conveniences  of  religion  and  separation  from  worldly 
encumbrances,  is  therefore  better  than  the  married  life, 
not  that  it  is  more  holy,  but  that  it  is  a  freedom  from  cares, 
an  opportunity  to  spend  more  time  in  spiritual  employ- 
ments ;  it  is  not  allayed  with  business  and  attendances 
upon  lower  affairs  :  and  if  it  be  a  chosen  condition  to  these 
ends,  it  containeth  in  it  a  victory  over  lusts,  and  greater 
desires  of  religion,  and  self-denial;  and  therefore  is  more 
excellent  than  the  married  life,  in  that  degree  in  which  it 
hath  greater  religion,  and  a  greater  mortification,  a  less 
satisfaction  of  natural  desires,  and  a  greater  fulness  of  the 
spiritual :  and  just  so  is  to  expect  that  little  coronet  or  spe- 
cial reward,  which  God  hath  prepared  (extraordinary  and 
besides  the  great  crown  of  all  faithful  souls)  for  those, 
"  who  have  not  defiled  themselves  with  women,  but  follow 
the  Virgin  Lamb  for  ever.""!" 

But  some  married  persons,  even  in  their  marriage,  do 
better  please  God,  than  some  virgins  in  their  state  of  vir- 
ginity :  they,  by  giving  great  example  of  conjugal  affection, 
by  preserving  their  faith  unbroken,  by  educating  children 
in  the  fear  of  God,  by  patience  and  contentedness  and  holy 
thoughts,  and  the  exercise  of  virtues  proper  to  that  state, 

*  1  Thess.  iv.  3 — 5.  t  Apoc.  xiv.  4. 

H 


62  OF  CHASTiry. 

do  not  only  please  God,  but  do  in  a  higher  degree  than 
those  virgins,  whose  piety  is  not  answerable  to  their  great 
opportunities  and  advantages. 

However,  married  persons,  and  widows,  and  virgins,  are 
all  servants  of  God  and  coheirs  in  the  inheritance  of  Jesus, 
if  they  live  within  the  restraints  and  laws  of  their  particular 
estate,  chastely,  temperately,  justly,  and  religiously. 

The  evil  consequents  of  Uncleanness. 
The  blessings  and  proper  effects  of  chastity  we  shall 
best  understand,  by  reckoning  the  evils  of  uncleanness  and 
carnality. 

1.  Uncleanness  of  all  vices  is  the  most  shameful.  "  The 
eye  of  the  adulterer  waiteth  for  the  twilight,  saying,  No  eye 
shall  see  me  ;  and  disguiseth  his  face.  In  the  dark  they 
dig  through  houses,  which  they  had  marked  for  themselves 
in  the  day-time  ;  they  know  not  tho  light  ,•  for  the  morn- 
ing is  to  them  as  the  shadow  of  death.  He  is  swift  as  the 
waters  ;  their  portion  is  cursed  in  the  earth :  he  beholdeth 
not  the  way  of  the  vineyards."*  Shame  is  the  eldest  daugh- 
ter of  uncleanness. 

2.  The  appetites  of  uncleanness  are  full  of  cares  and 
trouble,  and  its  fruition  is  sorrow  and  repentance.  The 
way  of  the  adulterer  is  hedged  with  thorns  ;t  full  of  fears 
and  jealousies,  burning  desires  and  impatient  waitings, 
tediousness  of  delay,  and  sufferance  of  affronts,  and  amaze- 
ments of  discovery. 

3.  Most  of  its  kinds  are  of  that  condition,  that  they  in- 
volve the  ruin  of  two  souls ;  and  he  that  is  a  fornicator  or 
adulterous,  steals  the  soul,  as  well  as  dishonours  the  body, 
of  his  neighbour ;  and  so  it  becomes  like  the  sin  of  falling 
Lucifer,  who  brought  a  part  of  the  stars  with  his  tail  from 
heaven. 

4.  Of  all  carnal  sins  it  is  that  alone,  Avhich  the  devil 
takes  delight  to  imitate  and  counterfeit;  communicating 
with  witches  and  impure  persons  in  the  corporal  act,  but 
in  this  only. 

•3.  Uncleanness  with  all  its  kinds  is  a  vice,  which  hath 
a  professed  enmity  against  the  body.  "  Every  sin  which 
a  man  doth,  is  without  the  body  ;  but  he  that  committeth 
fornication,  sinneth  against  his  own  body.":]; 

6.  Uncleanness  is  hugely  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  go- 
*  Job  xxiv.  15,  &c.  t  Hos.  ii.  6.  t  1  Cor.  vi.  18. 


OF  CHASTITY.  63 

vernment  by  embasing  the  spirit  of  a  man,  making  it  ef- 
feminate, sneaking,  soft,  and  foolish,  without  courage,  with- 
out confidence.  David  felt  this  after  his  folly  with  Bath- 
sheba,  he  fell  to  unkingly  arts  and  stratagems  to  hide  the 
crime ;  and  he  did  nothing  but  increase  it,  and  remained 
timorous  and  poor-spirited,  till  he  prayed  to  God  once 
more  to  establish  him  with  a  free  and  a  princely  spirit. 
And  no  superior  dare  strictly  observe  discipline  upon  his 
charge,  if  he  hath  let  himself  loose  to  the  shame  of  incon- 
tinence. 

7.  The  Gospel  hath  added  two  arguments  against  un- 
cleanness,  which  were  never  before  used,  nor  indeed  could 
be :  since  God  hath  given  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  are 
baptized,  and  rightly  confirmed,  and  entered  into  covenant 
with  him,  our  bodies  are  made  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
in  which  he  dwells;  and  therefore,  uncleanness  is  sacri- 
lege, and  defiles  a  temple.  It  is  St.  Paul's  argument, 
"  Know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  ?"*  and  "  He  that  defiles  a  temple,  him  will  God 
destroy. f  Therefore  glorify  God  in  your  bodies,"  that  is, 
flee  fornication.  To  which,  for  the  likeness  of  the  argu- 
ment, add,  "that  our  bodies  are  members  of  Christ;  and 
therefore  God  forbid,  that  we  should  take  the  members  of 
Christ,  and  make  them  members  of  a  harlot."  So  that  un- 
cleanness dishonours  Christ,  and  dishonours  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
it  is  a  sin  against  God,  and  in  this  sense  a  sin  against  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

8.  The  next  special  argument,  which  the  Gospel  minis- 
ters especially  against  adultery,  and  for  the  preservation 
of  the  purity  of  marriage,  is,  that  marriage  is  by  Christ  hal- 
lowed into  a  mystery,  to  signify  the  sacramental  and  mysti- 
cal union  of  Christ  and  his  church. ij:  He  therefore  that 
breaks  this  knot,  which  the  church  and  their  mutual  faith 
hath  tied,  and  Christ  hath  knit  up  into  a  mystery,  dishonours 
a  great  rite  of  Christianity,  of  high,  spiritual,  and  excellent 
signification. 

9.  St.  Gregory  reckons  uncleanness  to  be  the  parent  of 
these  monsters,  blindness  of  mind,  inconsideration,  preci- 
pitancy or  giddiness  in  actions,  self-love,  hatred  of  God, 
love  of  the  present  pleasures,  a  despite  or  despair  of  the 
joys  of  religion  here,  and  of  heaven  hereafter.  Whereas  a 
pure  mind  in  a  chaste  body  is  the  mother  of  wisdom  and 

*  1  Cor.  vi.  19.  t  1  Cor.  iii.  17.  t  Ephes.  v.  32. 


64  OF  CHASTITY. 

deliberation,  sober  counsels  and  ingenuous  actions,  open 
deportment  and  sweet  carriage,  sincere  principles  and  un- 
prejudicate  understanding,  love  of  God  and  self-denial, 
peace  and  confidence,  holy  prayers  and  spiritual  comfort, 
and  a  pleasure  of  spirit  infinitely  greater  than  the  sottish 
and  beastly  pleasures  of  unchastity.  "  For  to  overcome 
pleasure  is  the  greatest  pleasure ;  and  no  victory  is  greater 
than  that  which  is  gotten  over  our  lusts  and  filthy  in- 
clinations." 

10.  Add  to  all  these,  the  public  dishonesty  and  disreput- 
ation, that  all  the  nations  of  the  world  have  cast  upon 
adulterous  and  unhallowed  embraces.  Abimelech,  to  the 
men  of  Gerar,  made  it  death  to  meddle  with  the  wife  of 
Isaac  ;  and  Judah  condemned  Thamar  to  be  burnt  for  her 
adulterous  conception ;  and  God,  besides  the  law  made  to 
put  the  adulterous  person  to  death,  did  constitute  a  settled 
and  constant  miracle  to  discover  the  adultery  of  a  sus- 
pected woman,*  that  her  bowels  should  burst  with  drink- 
ing the  waters  of  jealousy.  The  Egyptian  law  was  to 
cut  off  the  nose  of  the  adulteress,  and  the  offending  part  of 
the  adulterer.  The  Locrians  put  out  both  the  adulterer's 
eyes.  The  Germans  (as  Tacitus  reports,)  placed  the 
adulteress  amidst  her  kindred  naked,  and  shaved  her  head, 
and  caused  her  husband  to  beat  her  with  clubs  through 
the  city.  The  Gortyn^ans  crowned  the  man  with  wool,  to 
shame  him  for  his  effeminacy ;  and  the  Cumani  caused  the 
woman  to  ride  upon  an  ass,  naked  and  hooted  at,  and  for 
ever  after  called  her  by  an  appellative  of  scorn,  "  a  rider 
upon  the  ass."  All  nations,  barbarous  and  civil,  agreeing 
in  their  general  design  of  rooting  so  dishonest  and  shameful 
a  vice  from  under  heaven. 

The  middle  ages  of  the  Church  were  not  pleased,  that 
the  adulteress  should  be  put  to  death :  but  in  the  primitive 
ages,  the  civil  laws,  by  which  Christians  were  then  go- 
verned, gave  leave  to  the  wronged  husband  to  kill  his  adul- 
terous wife,  if  he  took  her  in  the  fact:  but  because  it  was 
a  privilege  indulged  lo  men  rather  than  a  direct  detestation 
of  the  crime,  a  consideration  of  the  injury  rather  than  of  the 
uncleanness,  therefore  it  was  soon  altered,  but  yet  hath 
caused  an  inquiry,  Whether  is  worse,  the  adultery  of  the 
man  or  the  woman  ? 

The  resolution  of  which  case,  in  order  to  our  present  af- 

*  All  111 b.  V.  '-^-l. 


OF  CHASTITY.  65 

fair,  is  thus  :  in  respect  of  the  })erson,  the  fault  is  greater 
in  a  man  than  in  a  womun,  who  is  of  a  more  pliant  and 
easy  spirit,  and  weaker  understanding,  and  hatli  nothing 
to  supply  the  unequal  strengths  of  men,  but  the  defensa- 
tive  of  a  passive  nature  and  armour  of  modesty,  which  is 
the  natural  ornament  of  that  sex.  "  And  it  is  unjust  that 
the  man  should  demand  chastity  and  severity  from  his  wife, 
which  himself  will  not  observe  towards  her,"  said  the  good 
Emperor  Antoninus:  it  is  as  if  the  man  should  persuade 
his  wife  to  fight  against  those  enemies,  to  which  he  had 
yielded  himself  a  prisoner.  2.  In  respect  of  the  effects 
and  evil  consecpicnts,  the  adultery  of  the  woman  is  worse, 
as  bringing  bastardy  into  a  family,  and  disinherisons  or 
great  injuries  to  the  lawful  children,  and  infinite  violations 
of  peace,  and  murders,  and  divorces,  and  all  the  effects  of 
rage  and  madness.  3.  But  in  respect  of  the  crime,  and  as 
relating  to  God,  they  are  equal,  intolerable,  and  damnable : 
and  since  it  is  no  more  permitted  to  men  to  have  many 
wives,  than  to  women  to  have  many  husbands,  and  that  in 
this  respect  their  privilege  is  equal,  their  sin  is  so  too. 
And  this  is  the  case  of  the  question  in  Christianity.  And 
the  Church  anciently  refused  to  admit  such  persons  to  the 
holy  communion,  until  they  had  done  seven  years'  pe- 
nances in  fasting,  in  sackcloth,  in  severe  inflictions  and  in- 
struments of  chastity  and  sorrow,  according  to  the  disci- 
pline of  those  ages. 

Acts  of  Chastity  in  general. 
The  actions  and  proper  offices  of  the  grace  of  chastity 
in  general,  are  these. 

1.  To  resist  all  unchaste  thoughts  :  at  no  hand,  enter- 
taining pleasure  in  the  unfruitful  fancies  and  remembrances 
of  uncleanness,  although  no  definite  desire  or  resolution  be 
entertained. 

2.  At  no  hand,  to  entertain  any  desire,  or  any  fantastic, 
imaginative  loves,  though  by  shame,  or  disability,  or  other 
circumstances,  they  be  restrained  from  act. 

3.  To  have  a  chaste  eye  and  hand  ;  for  it  is  all  one  with 
what  part  of  the  body  we  commit  adultery  :  and  if  a  man 
lets  his  eye  loose,  and  enjoys  the  lust  of  that,  he  is  an  adul- 
terer. "  Look  not  upon  a  woman  to  lust  after  her."  And 
supposing  all  the  other  members  restrained,  yet  if  the  eye 
be  permitted  to  lust,  the  man  can  no  otherwise  be  called 

h2 


66  OF  CHASTITY. 

chaste,  than  ho  can  be  called  severe  and  mortified,  that 
sits  all  day  long-  seeing-  plays  and  revellings,  and  out  of 
greediness  to  fill  his  eye,  neglects  his  belly.  There  are 
some  vessels,  which,  if  you  ofler  to  lift  by  the  belly  or 
bottom,  you  cannot  stir  them,  but  are  soon  removed,  if 
you  take  them  by  the  ears.  It  matters  not,  with  which  of 
your  members  you  are  taken  and  carried  off  from  your  duty 
and  severity. 

4.  To  have  a  heart  and  mind  chaste  and  pure  ;  that  is, 
detesting  all  uncleanness ;  disliking  all  its  motions,  past 
actions,  circumstances,  likenesses,  discourses;  and  this 
ought  to  be  the  chastity  of  virgins  and  widows,  of  old  per- 
sons and  eunuchs  especially,  and  generally  of  all  men  ac- 
cording to  their  several  necessities. 

5.  To  discourse  chastely  and  purely  ;  with  great  care  de- 
clining all  indecencies  of  language,  chastening  the  tongue, 
and  restraining  it  with  grace,  as  vapours  of  wine  are  re- 
strained with  a  bunch  of  myrrh. 

6.  To  disapprove  by  an  after-act  all  involuntary  and 
natural  pollutions :  for  if  a  man  delights  in  having  suffered 
any  natural  pollution,  and  with  pleasure  remembers  it,  he 
chooses  that,  which  was  in  itself  involuntary  ;  and  that 
which,  being  natural,  was  innocent,  becoming  voluntary,  is 
made  useful. 

7.  They  that  have  performed  these  duties  and  parts  of 
chastity,  will  certainly  abstain  from  all  exterior  actions  of 
uncleanness,  those  noonday  and  midnight  devils,  those  law- 
less and  ungodly  worshippings  of  shame  and  unclean- 
ness, whose  birth  is  in  trouble,  whose  growth  is  in  folly, 
and  whose  end  is  in  shame. 

But  besides  these  general  acts  of  chastity,  which  are 
common  to  all  states  of  men  and  women,  there  are  some 
few  things  proper  to  the  severals. 

Acts  of  Virginal  Chastity. 
1.  Virgins  must  remember,  that  the  virginity  of  the  body 
is  only  excellent  in  order  to  the  purity  of  the  soul ;  who 
therefore  must  consider,  that  since  they  are  in  some  mea- 
sure in  a  condition  like  that  of  angels,  it  is  their  duty  to 
spend  much  of  their  time  in  angelical  employment :  for  in 
the  same  degree  that  virgins  live  more  spiritually  than 
other  persons,  in  the  same  degree  is  their  virginity  a  more 
excellent  state.     But  else  it  is  no  better  than  that  of  invo- 


OF  CHASTITY.  67 

luntary  or  constrained  eunuchs;  a  misery  and  a  trouble, 
or  else  a  mere  privation,  as  much  without  excellency  as 
without  mixture. 

2.  Virgins  must  contend  for  a  singular  modesty  ;  whose 
first  path  must  be  an  ignorance  in  the  distinction  of  sexes, 
or  their  proper  instruments ;  or  if  they  accidentally  be  in- 
structed in  that,  it  must  be  supplied  with  an  inadvertency 
or  neglect  of  all  thoughts  and  remembrances  of  such  difier- 
ence  ;  and  the  following  parts  of  it  must  be  pious  and  chaste 
thoughts,  holy  language,  and  modest  carriage. 

3.  Virgins  must  be  retired  and  unpublic  :  for  all  freedom 
and  looseness  of  society  is  a  violence  done  to  virginity,  not 
in  its  natural,  but  in  its  moral  capacity  ;  that  is,  it  loses  part 
of  its  severity,  stfictness,  and  opportunity  of  advantages,  by 
publishing  that  person,  whose  work  is  religion,  whose  com- 
pany is  angels,  whose  thoughts  must  dwell  in  heaven,  and 
separate  from  all  mixtures  of  the  world. 

4.  Virgins  have  a  peculiar  obligation  to  charity ;  for  this 
is  virginity  of  the  soul ;  as  purity,  integrity,  and  separation 
is  of  the  body  :  which  doctrine  we  are  taught  by  St.  Peter : 
"Seeing  ye  have  purified  your  souls  in  obeying  the  truth 
through  the  Spirit  unto  unfeigned  love  of  the  brethren,  see 
that  ye  love  one  another  with  a  pure  heart  fervently."*  For 
a  virgin  that  consecrates  her  body  to  God,  and  pollutes  her 
spirit  with  rage,  or  impatience,  or  inordinate  anger,  gives 
him  what  he  most  hates,  a  most  foul  and  defiled  soul. 

5.  These  rules  are  necessary  for  virgins,  that  offer  that 
state  to  God,  and  mean  not  to  enter  into  the  state  of  mar- 
riage ;  for  they  that  only  wait  the  opportunity  of  a  conve- 
nient change,  are  to  steer  themselves  by  the  general  rules 
of  chastity. 

Rules  for  Widows,  or  vidual  Chastity. 

For  widows,  the  fontinel  of  whose  desires  hath  been 
opened  by  the  former  permissions  of  the  marriage-bed,  they 
must  remember, 

1.  That  God  hath  now  restrained  the  former  licence, 
bound  up  their  eyes  and  shut  up  their  heart  into  a  narrower 
compass,  and  hath  given  theni  sorrow  to  be  a  bridle  to  their 
desires.  A  widow  must  be  a  mourner ;  and  she  that  is  not, 
cannot  so  well  secure  the  chastity  of  her  proper  state. 

2.  It  is  against  public  honesty  to  marry  another  man,  so 

*  1  Pet.  i.  22. 


QS  OF  CHASTITY. 

long  as  she  is  with  child  by  her  former  husband :  and  of 
the  same  fame,  it  is  in  a  lesser  proportion  to  marry  within 
the  year  of  mourning ;  but  anciently  it  was  infamous  for 
her  to  marry,  till  by  common  account  the  body  was  dis- 
solved into  its  first  principle  of  earth. 

3.  A  widoAv  must  restrain  her  memory  and  her  fancy, 
not  recalling  or  recounting  her  former  permissions  and 
freer  licences  with  any  present  delight ;  for  then  she  opens 
that  sluice,  which  her  husband's  death  and  her  own  sorrow 
have  shut  up. 

4.  A  widow,  that  desires  her  widowhood  should  be  a  state 
pleasing  to  God,  must  spend  her  time  as  devoted  virgins 
should,  in  fastings  and  prayers,  and  charity. 

5.  A  widow  must  forbid  herself  to  use  those  temporal 
solaces,  which  in  her  former  estate  were  innocent,  but  now 
are  dangerous. 

Rules  fo?'  Married  Persons,  or  Matrimonial  Chastity. 

Concerning  married  persons,  besides  the  keeping  of  their 
mutual  faith  and  contract  with  each  other,  these  particulars 
are  useful  to  be  observed. 

1.  Although  their  mutual  endearments  are  safe  within  the 
protection  of  marriage,  yet  they  that  have  wives  or  husbands, 
must  be,  as  though  they  had  them  not ;  that  is,  they  must 
have  an  affection  greater  to  each  other  than  they  have  to  any 
person  in  the  world,  but  not  greater  than  they  have  to  God: 
but  that  they  be  ready  to  part  with  all  interest  in  each  other's 
person  rather  than  sin  against  God. 

2.  In  their  permissions  and  licence,  they  must  be  sure 
to  observe  the  order  of  nature  and  the  ends  of  God.  "  He 
is  an  ill  husband,  that  uses  his  wife  as  a  man  treats  a  har- 
lot," having  no  other  end  but  pleasure.  Concerning  which, 
our  best  rule  is,  that  although  in  this,  as  in  eating  and 
drinking,  there  is  an  appetite  to  be  satisfied,  which  cannot 
be  done  without  pleasing  that  desire  ;  yet,  since  that  de- 
sire and  satisfaction  was  intended  by  nature  for  other  ends, 
they  should  never  be  separate  from  those  ends,  but  always 
be  joined  with  all  or  one  of  these  ends,  "  with  a  desire  of 
children,  or  to  avoid  fornication,  or  to  lighten  and  ease  the 
cares  and  sadnesses  of  household  aifairs,  or  to  endear  each 
other  :"  but  never  with  a  purpose,  either  in  act  or  desire, 
to  separate  the  sensuality  from  these  ends  which  hallov/  it. 
Onan  did  separate  his  act  from  its  proper  end,  and  so  or- 


OF  CHASTITY.  69 

dered  his  embraces,  that  his  wife  should  not  conceive,  and 
God  punished  him. 

3.  Married  persons  must  keep  such  modesty  and  decency 
of  treating  each  other,  that  they  never  force  themselves  into 
high  and  violent  lusts,  with  arts  and  misbecoming  devices  : 
always  remembering,  that  those  mixtures  arc  most  innocent 
which  are  most  simple  and  most  natural,  most  orderly  and 
most  safe. 

4.  It  is  a  duty  of  matrimonial  chastity,  to  be  restrained 
and  temperate  in  the  use  of  their  lawful  pleasures :  con- 
cerning which,  although  no  universal  rule  can  antecedently 
be  given  to  all  persons,  any  more  than  to  all  bodies  one 
proportion  of  meat  and  drink  ;  yet  married  persons  are  to 
estimate  the  degree  of  their  licence  according  to  the  fol- 
lowing proportions.  1.  That  it  be  moderate,  so  as  to  con- 
sist with  health.  2.  That  it  be  so  ordered  as  not  to  be 
too  expensive  of  time,  that  precious  opportunity  of  working- 
out  our  salvation.  3.  That  when  duty  is  demanded,  it  be 
always  paid  (so  far  as  is  in  our  powers  and  election)  accord- 
ing to  the  foregoing  measures.  4.  That  it  be  with  a  tem- 
perate aftection,  without  violent  transporting  desires,  or 
too  sensual  applications.  Concerning  which  a  man  is  to 
make  judgment  by  proportion  to  other  actions,  and  the  se- 
verities of  his  religion,  and  the  sentences  of  sober  and 
wise  persons;  always  remembering,  that  marriage  is  a  pro- 
vision for  the  supply  of  the  natural  necessities  of  the  body, 
not  for  the  artificial  and  procured  appetites  of  the  mind. 
And  it  is  a  sad  truth,  that  many  married  persons,  thinking 
that  the  flood-gates  of  liberty  are  set  wide  open  without 
measures  or  restraints  (so  they  sail  in  that  channel,)  have 
felt  the  final  rewards  of  intemperance  and  lust,  by  their 
unlawful  using  of  lawful  permissions.  Only  let  each  of 
them  be  temperate,  and  both  of  them  be  modest.  Socra- 
tes was  wont  to  say,  that  those  women,  to  whom  nature 
hath  not  been  indulgent  in  good  features  and  colours, 
should  make  it  up  themselves  with  excellent  manners; 
and  those  who  were  beautiful  and  comely,  should  be  care- 
ful, that  so  ftiir  a  body  be  not  polluted  with  unhandsome 
usages.  To  which  Plutarch  adds,  that  a  wife,  if  she  be 
unhandsome,  should  consider  how  extremely  ugly  she  should 
be,  if  she  wanted  modesty  :  but  if  she  be  handsome,  let  her 
think  how  gracious  that  beauty  would  be,  if  she  superadds 
chastitv. 


70  OF  CHASTITY. 

5.  Married  persons  by  consent  are  to  abstain  from  their 
mutual  entertainments  at  solemn  times  of  devotion ;  not  as 
a  duty  of  itself  necessary,  but  as  being  the  most  proper 
act  of  purity,  which  in  their  condition  they  can  present  to 
God,  and  being  a  good  advantage  for  attending  their  pre- 
paration to  the  solemn  duty  and  their  demeanor  in  it.  It 
is  St.  Paul's  counsel,  that  "  by  consent  for  a  time  they 
should  abstain,  that  they  may  give  themselves  to  fasting 
and  prayer."*  And  though  when  Christians  did  receive 
the  holy  communion  every  day,  it  is  certain  they  did  not 
abstain,  but  had  children ;  yet  when  the  communion  was 
more  seldom,  they  did  with  religion  abstain  from  the  mar- 
riage-bed during  the  time  of  their  solemn  preparatory  de- 
votions, as  anciently  they  did  from  eating  and  drinking,  till 
the  solemnity  of  the  day  was  past. 

6.  It  were  well  if  married  persons  would,  in  their  peni- 
tential prayers,  and  in  their  general  confessions,  suspect 
themselves,  and  accordingly  ask  a  general  pardon  for  all 
their  indecencies,  and  more  passionate  applications  of  them- 
selves in  the  offices  of  marriage  :  that  what  is  lawful  and 
honourable  in  its  kind,  may  not  be  sullied  with  imperfect 
circumstances ;  or  if  it  be,  it  may  be  made  clean  again  by 
the  interruption  and  recallings  of  such  a  repentance,  of 
which  such  uncertain  parts  of  action  are  capable. 

But  because  of  all  the  dangers  of  a  Christian,  none  more 
pressing  and  troublesome  than  the  temptations  to  lust,  no 
enemy  more  dangerous  than  that  of  the  flesh,  no  accounts 
greater  than  what  we  have  to  reckon  for  at  the  audit  of 
concupiscence,  therefore  it  concerns  all.  that  would  be  safe 
from  this  death,  to  arm  themselves  by  the  following  rules, 
to  prevent,  or  to  cure  all  the  wounds  of  our  flesh  made  by 
the  poisoned  arrows  of  lust. 

Remedies  against  Uncleanness. 
1.  When  a  temptation  of  lust  assaults  thee,  do  not  resist 
it  by  heaping  up  arguments  against  it,  and  disputing  with 
it,  considering  its  offers  and  its  danger,  but  fly  from  it,  that 
is,  think  not  at  all  of  it ;  lay  aside  all  consideration  con- 
cerning it,  and  turn  away  from  it  by  any  severe  and  laud- 
able thought  of  business.  Saint  Jerome  very  wittily  re- 
proves the  Gentile  superstition,  who  pictured  the  virgin- 
deities  armed  with  a  shield  and  lance,  as  if  chastity  could 

*  1  Cor.  vii.  5. 


OF  CHASTITY.  71 

not  be  defended  without  war  and  diicct  contention.  No; 
this  enemy  is  to  be  treated  otherwise.  If  you  hear  it 
speak,  thoui»-h  but  to  dispute  with  it,  it  ruins  you  ;  and  the 
very  arguments  you  go  about  to  answer,  leave  a  relish  upon 
the  tongue.  A  man  may  be  burned,  if  he  goes  near  the 
fire,  though  but  to  quench  his  house  ;  and  by  handling  pitch, 
though  but  to  draw  it  from  your  clothes,  you  defile  your 
fingers. 

2.  Avoid  idleness,  and  fill  up  all  the  spaces  of  thy  time 
with  severe  and  useful  employment ;  for  lust  usually  creeps 
in  at  those  emptinesses  where  the  soul  is  unemployed,  and 
the  body  is  at  e:ise.  For  no  easy,  healthful,  and  idle  per- 
son was  ever  chaste,  if  he  could  be  tempted.  But  of  all 
emj)loyments  bodily  labour  is  most  useful,  and  of  greatest 
benefit  for  the  driving  away  the  devil. 

3.  Give  no  entertainment  to  the  beginnings,  the  first 
motions  and  secret  whispers  of  the  spirit  of  impurity.  For 
if  you  totally  suppress  it,  it  dies  ;  if  you  permit  the  furnace 
to  breathe  its  smoke  and  flame  out  at  any  vent,  it  will  rage 
to  the  consumption  of  the  whole.  This  cockatrice  is  soon- 
est crushed  in  the  shell ;  but  if  it  grows,  it  turns  to  a  ser- 
pent, and  a  dragon,  and  a  devil. 

4.  Corporal  mortification,  and  hard  usages  of  our  body, 
hath,  by  all  ages  of  the  church,  been  accounted  a  good  in- 
strument, and  of  some  profit  against  the  spirit  of  fornica- 
tion. A  spar^  diet,  and  a  thin  coarse  table,  seldom  re- 
freshment, frequent  fasts,  not  violent,  and  interrupted  with 
returns  to  ordinary  feeding,  but  constantly  little,  unplea- 
sant, of  wholesome  but  sparing  nourishment :  for  by  such 
cutting  off  the  provisions  of  victual,  we  shall  weaken  the 
strengths  of  our  enemy.  To  which,  if  we  add  lyings  upon 
the  ground,  painful  postures  in  prayer,  reciting  our  devo- 
tions with  our  arms  extended  at  full  length,  like  Moses 
praying  against  Amalek,  our  blessed  Saviour  hanging  upon 
his  painful  bed  of  sorrows,  the  cross,  and  (if  the  lust  be 
upon  us,  and  sharply  tempting)  by  inflicting  any  smart  to 
overthrow  the  strongest  passion  by  the  most  violent  pain, 
we  shall  find  great  ease  for  the  present,  and  the  resolution 
and  apt  sufferance  against  the  future  danger.  And  this 
was  St.  Paul's  remedy,  "  I  bring  my  body  under ;"  he 
used  some  rudenesses  towards  it.  But  it  was  a  great  no- 
bleness of  chastity  which  St.  Jerome  reports  of  a  son  of 
the  King  of  Nicomcdia,  who  being  tempted  upon  flowers 


72  OF  CHASTITY. 

and  a  perfumed  bed,  with  a  soft  violence,  but  yetiied  down 
to  the  temptation,  and  solicited  with  circumstances  of  Asian 
luxury  by  an  impure  courtesan,  lest  the  easiness  of  his 
posture  should  abuse  him,  spit  out  his  tongue  into  heT  face : 
to  represent,  that  no  virtue  hath  cost  the  saints  so  much  as 
this  of  chastity. 

5.  Fly  from  all  occasions,  temptations,  loosenesses  of 
company,  balls  and  revellings,  indecent  mixtures  of  wan- 
ton dancings,  idle  talk,  private  society  with  strange  Avomen, 
starings  upon  a  beauteous  face,  the  company  of  women 
that  are  singers,  amorous  gestures,  garish  and  wanton 
dresses,  feasts  and  liberty,  banquets  and  perfumes,  wine 
and  strong  drinks,  which  are  made  to  persecute  chastity  ; 
some  of  these  being  the  very  prologues  to  lust,  and  the 
most  innocent  of  them  being  but  like  condited  or  pickled 
mushrooms,  which  if  carefully  corrected,  and  seldom  tasted, 
may  be  harmless,  but  can  never  do  good ;  ever  remem- 
bering, that  it  is  easier  to  die  for  chastity  than  to  live 
with  it ;  and  the  hangman  could  not  extort  a  consent  from 
some  persons,  from  whom  a  lover  would  have  entreated  it. 
For  the  glory  of  chastity  will  easily  overcome  the  rude- 
ness of  fear  and  violence ;  but  easiness,  and  softness, 
and  smooth  temptations,  creep  in,  and,  like  the  sun,  make 
a  maiden  lay  by  her  veil  and  robe,  which  persecution, 
like  the  northern  Vvdnd,  made  her  hold  fast  and  clap  close 
about  her. 

6.  He  that  will  secure  his  chastity,  must  first  cure  his 
pride  and  his  rage.  For  oftentimes  lust  is  the  punishment 
of  a  proud  man,  to  tame  the  vanity  of  his  pride  by  the 
shame  and  affronts  of  unchastity  :  and  the  same  intempe- 
rate heat  that  makes  anger,  does  enkindle  lust. 

7.  If  thou  beest  assaulted  with  an  unclean  spirit,  trust 
not  thyself  alone  ;  but  run  forth  into  company  whose 
reverence  and  modesty  may  suppress,  or  whose  society 
may  divert  thy  thoughts:  and  a  perpetual  witness  of  thy 
conversation  is  of  especial  use  against  this  vice,  which 
evaporates  in  the  open  air,  like  camphire,  being  impatient 
of  light  and  witnesses. 

8.  Use  frequent  and  earnest  prayers  to  the  King  of  pu- 
rities, the  first  of  virgins,  the  eternal  God,  who  is  of  an 
essential  purity,  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  reprove  and 
cast  out  the  unclean  spirit.  For,  besides  the  blessings  of 
prayer  by  way  of  reward,  it  hath  a  natural  virtue  to  re- 


OF  HUMILITY.  73 

strain  this  vice  :  because  a  prayer  against  it  is  an  unwill- 
ingness to  act  it;  and  so  long  as  we  heartily  pray  against 
it,  our  desires  arc  secured,  and  then  this  devil  hath  no 
power.  This  was  St.  Paul's  other  remedy :  "  For  this 
cause  I  besought  the  Lord  tlu'ice."  And  there  is  much 
reason  and  much  advantage  in  the  use  of  this  instrument  ; 
because  the  main  thing,  that  in  this  affair  is  to  be  secured, 
is  a  man's  mind.  He  that  goes  about  to  cure  lust  by 
bodily  exercises  alone  (as  St.  Paul's  phrase  is)  or  morti- 
fications, shall  find  them  sometimes  instrumental  to  it, 
and  incitations  of  sudden  desires,  but  always  insufficient 
and  of  little  profit :  but  he  that  hath  a  chaste  mind,  shall 
find  his  body  apt  enough  to  take  laws  ;  and  let  it  do  its 
worst,  it  cannot  make  a  sin,  and  in  its  greatest  violence 
can  but  produce  a  little  natural  uneasiness,  not  so  much 
trouble  as  a  severe  fasting-day,  or  a  hard  night's  lodging 
upon  boards.  If  a  man  be  hungry,  he  must  eat ;  and  if  he 
be  thirsty,  he  must  drink  in  some  convenient  time,  or  else 
he  dies  ;  but  if  the  body  be  rebellious,  so  the  mind  be 
chaste,  let  it  do  its  worst ;  if  you  resolve  perfectly  not  to 
satisfy  it,  you  can  receive  no  great  evi]  by  it.  Therefore, 
the  proper  cure  is  by  applications  to  the  spirit,  and  secu- 
rities of  the  mind,  which  can  no  way  so  well  be  secured  as 
by  frequent  and  fervent  prayers,  and  sober  resolutions,  and 
severe  discourses.     Therefore, 

9.  Hither  bring  in  succour  from  consideration  of  the  Di- 
vine presence,  and  of  his  holy  angels,  meditation  of  death, 
and  the  passions  of  Christ  upon  the  cross,  imitation  of  his 
purities,  and  of  the  Virgin  Mary  his  unspotted  and  holy  mo- 
ther, and  of  such  eminent  saints,  who,  in  their  generations, 
were  burning  and  shining  lights,  unmingled  with  such  un- 
cleannesses,  which  defile  the  soul,  and  who  now  follow  the 
Lamb,  whithersoever  he  goes. 

10.  These  remedies  are  of  universal  efficacy  in  all  cases 
extraordinary  and  violent ;  but  in  ordinary  and  common,  the 
remedy,  which  God  hath  provided,  that  is,  honourable  mar- 
riage, hath  a  natural  efficacy,  besides  a  virtue  by  divine 
blessing,  to  cure  the  inconveniences,  which  otherwise 
might  afflict  persons  temperate  and  sober. 

SECTION  IV. 

Of  Humility, 

Humility  is  the  great  ornament  and  jewel  of  Christian 
I 


74  OF  HUxMILITy. 

religion ;  that,  whereby  it  is  distinguished  from  all  the  wis- 
dom of  the  world :  it  not  having  been  taught  by  the  wise 
men  of  the  Gentiles,  but  first  put  into  a  disciple,  and 
made  part  of  a  religion,  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  pro- 
pounded himself  imitable  by  his  disciples  so  signally  in  no- 
thing, as  in  the  twin-sisters  of  meekness  and  humility.  Learn 
of  me,  for  I  am  meek  and  humble  ;  and  ye  shall  find  rest 
unto  your  souls. 

For  all  the  world,  all  that  we  are,  and  all  that  we  have, 
our  bodies  and  our  souls,  our  actions  and  our  sufferings,  our 
conditions  at  home,  our  accidents  abroad,  our  many  sins  and 
our  seldom  virtues,  are  as  so  many  arguments  to  make  our 
souls  dwell  low  in  the  deep  valleys  of  humility. 

Arguments  against  Pride  by  way  of  consideration. 

1.  Our  body  is  weak  and  impure,  sending  out  more  un- 
cleannesses  from  its  several  sinks  than  could  be  endured, 
if  they  were  not  necessary  and  natural :  and  we  are  forced  to 
pass  that  through  our  mouths,  which  as  soon  as  we  see  upon 
the  ground,  we  loathe  like  rottenness  and  vomiting. 

2.  Our  strength  is  inferior  to  that  of  many  beasts,  and  our 
infirmities  so  many,  that  we  are  forced  to  dress  and  tend 
horses  and  asses,  that  they  may  help  our  needs,  and  relieve 
our  wants. 

3.  Our  beauty  is  in  colour  inferior  to  many  flowers,  and 
in  proportion  of  parts  it  is  no  better  than  nothing ;  for  even 
a  dog  hath  parts  as  well  proportioned  and  fitted  to  his  pur- 
poses, and  the  designs  of  his  nature,  as  we  have ;  and  when 
it  is  most  florid  and  gay,  three  fits  of  an  ague  can  change  it 
into  yellowness  and  leanness,  and  the  hollowness  and  wrin- 
kles of  deformity. 

4.  Our  learning  is  then  best,  when  it  teaches  most  humi- 
lity ;  but  to  be  proud  of  learning  is  the  greatest  ignorance 
in  the  world.  For  our  learning  is  so  long  in  getting,  and 
so  very  imperfect,  that  the  greatest  clerk  knows  not  the 
thousandth  part  of  what  he  is  ignorant;  and  knows  so 
uncertainly  what  he  seems  to  know,  and  knows  no  other- 
wise than  a  fool  or  a  child,  even  what  is  told  him  or  what 
he  guesses  at,  that  except  those  things  which  concern  his 
duty,  and  which  God  hath  revealed  to  him,  which  also, 
every  woman  knows  as  far  as  is  necessary,  the  most  learned 
man  hath  nothing  to  be  proud  of,  unless  this  be  a  sufficient 
argument  to   exalt   him,  that   he    uncertainly   guesses  at 


OF  HUMLITY.  75 

some  moro  unnecessary  thing  than  many  others,  who  yet 
know  all  that  concerns  them,  and  mind  other  things  more 
necessary  for  the  needs  of  life  and  commonwealths. 

5.  lie  that  is  proud  of  riches  is  a  fool.  For  if  he  be 
exalted  above  his  neighbours,  because  he  hath  more  gold, 
how  much  inferior  is  ho  to  a  gold  mine  ?  How  much  is  he 
to  give  place  to  a  chain  of  pearl,  or  a  knot  of  diamonds? 
For  certainly  that  hath  the  greatest  excellence,  from 
whence  he  derives  all  his  gallantry  and  pre-eminence  over 
his  neighbours. 

6.  If  a  man  be  exalted  by  reason  of  any  excellence  in 
his  soul,  he  may  please  to  remember,  that  all  souls  are 
equal ;  and  their  differing  operations  are  because  their  in- 
strument is  in  better  tunc,  their  body  is  more  healthful,  or 
better  tempered :  which  is  no  more  praise  to  him,  than  it  is 
that  he  was  born  in  Italy. 

7.  He  that  is  proud  of  his  birth,  is  proud  of  the  bless- 
ings of  others,  not  of  himself:  for  if  his  parents  were 
more  eminent  in  any  circumstances  than  their  neighbours, 
he  is  to  thank  God,  and  to  rejoice  in  them;  but  still  he 
may  be  a  fool,  or  unfortunate,  or  deformed ;  and  when 
himself  was  born,  it  was  indifferent  to  him,  whether  his 
father  were  a  king  or  a  peasant,  for  he  knew  not  any  thing, 
nor  chose  any  thing ;  and  most  commonly  it  is  true,  that 
he  that  boasts  of  his  ancestors,  who  were  the  founders  and 
raisers  of  a  noble  family,  doth  confess  that  he  hath  in  him- 
self a  less  virtue  and  a  less  honour,  and  therefore  that  he  is 
degenerated. 

8.  Whatsoever  other  difference  there  is  between  thee 
and  thy  neighbour,  if  it  be  bad,  it  is  thine  own,  but  thou 
hast  no  reason  to  boast  of  thy  misery  and  shame  ;  if  it  be 
good,  thou  hast  received  it  from  God  ;  and  then  thou  art 
more  obliged  to  pay  duty  and  tribute,  use  and  principal  to 
him ;  and  it  were  a  strange  folly  for  a  man  to  be  proud  of 
being  more  in  debt  than  another. 

9.  Remember  what  thou  wert,  before  thou  wert  begot- 
ten. Nothing.  What  wert  thou  in  the  first  regions  of  thy 
dwelling,  before  thy  birth  ?  Uncleanness.  What  wert  thou 
for  many  years  after  ?  Weakness.  What  in  all  thy  life  ? 
A  great  sinner.  What  in  all  thy  excellence  ?  A  mere 
debtor  to  God,  to  thy  parents,  to  the  earth,  to  all  the  crea- 
tures. But  we  may,  if  we  please,  use  the  method  of  the 
Platonists,  who   reduce  all  the  causes  and  arguments  for 


76  OF  HUMILITY. 

humility,  which  we  can  take  from  ourselves,  to  these  seven 
heads.  1.  The  spirit  of  a  man  is  light  and  troublesome. 
2.  His  body  is  brutish  and  sickly.  3.  He  is  constant  in 
his  folly  and  error,  and  inconstant  in  his  manners  and 
good  purposes.  4.  His  labours  are  vain,  intricate,  and 
endless.  5.  His  fortune  is  changeable,  but  seldom  pleas- 
ing, never  perfect.  6.  His  wisdom  comes  not,  till  he  be 
ready  to  die,  that  is,  till  he  be  past  using  it.  7.  His  death 
is  certain,  always  ready  at  the  door,  but  never  far  off. 
Upon  these  or  the  like  meditations  if  we  dwell,  or  fre- 
quently retire  to  them,  we  shall  see  nothing  more  reason- 
able than  to  be  humble,  and  nothing  more  foolish  than  to 
be  proud. 

Acts  or  Offices  of  Humility, 
The  grace  of  humility  is  exercised  by  these  following 
rules. 

1.  Think  not  thyself  better  for  any  thing,  that  happens 
to  thee  from  without.  For  although  thou  mayest,  by  gifts 
bestowed  upon  thee,  be  better  than  another,  as  one  horse 
is  better  than  another,  that  is  of  more  use  to  others ;  yet 
as  thou  art  a  man,  thou  hast  nothing  to  commend  thee  to 
thyself  but  that  only,  by  which  thou  art  a  man,  that  is,  by 
what  thou  choosest  and  refusest. 

2.  Humility  consists  not  in  railing  against  thyself,  or 
wearing  mean  clothes,  or  going  softly  and  submissively  : 
but  in  hearty  and  real  evil  or  mean  opinion  of  thyself.  Be- 
lieve thyself  an  unworthy  person,  heartily,  as  thou  believest 
thyself  to  be  hungry,  or  poor,  or  sick,  when  thou  art  so. 

3.  Whatsoever  evil  thou  sayest  of  thyself,  be  content 
that  others  should  think  to  be  true  :  and  if  thou  callest 
thyself  fool,  be  not  angry,  if  another  say  so  of  thee.  For 
if  thou  thinkest  so  truly,  all  men  in  the  world  desire  other 
men  to  be  of  their  opinion  ;  and  he  is  an  hypocrite,  that 
accuses  himself  before  others,  with  an  intent  not  to  be  be- 
lieved. But  he  that  calls  himself  intemperate,  foolish, 
lustful,  and  is  angry  when  his  neighbours  call  him  so,  is 
both  a  false  and  a  proud  person. 

4.  Love  to  be  concealed,  and  little  esteemed  ;  be  con- 
tent to  want  praise,  never  being  troubled  when  thou  art 
slighted  or  undervalued  ;  for  thou  canst  not  undervalue 
thyself,  and  if  thou  thinkest  so  meanly,  as  there  is  reason, 
no  contempt  will  seem  unreasonable,  and  therefore  it  will 
be  very  tolerable. 


OF  HUMILITY.  77 

5.  Never  be  ashamed  of  thy  birth,  or  thy  parents,  or  thy 
trade,  or  tliy  present  employment,  for  the  meanness  or 
poverty  of  any  of  them  ;  and  when  there  is  an  occasion  to 
speak  of  them,  snch  an  occasion  as  would  invite  you  to 
speak  of  any  thing  that  pleases  you,  omit  it  not,  but  speak 
as  readily  and  indifferently  of  thy  meanness  ps  of  thy  great- 
ness. Primislaus,  the  first  king  of  Bohemia,  kept  his  coun- 
try-shoes always  by  him,  to  remember  from  whence  he  was 
rrised :  and  Agathocles,  by  the  furniture  of  his  table,  con- 
fessed, that,  from  a  potter,  he  was  raised  to  be  the  king  of 
Sicily. 

G.  Never  speak  any  thing  directly  tending  to  thy  praise  or 
glory ;  that  is,  with  a  purpose  to  be  commended,  and  for  no 
other  end.  If  other  ends  be  mingled  with  thy  honour,  as  if 
the  glory  of  God,  or  charity,  or  necessity,  or  any  thing  of 
prudence  be  thy  end,  you  are  not  tied  to  omit  your  discourse 
or  your  design,  that  you  may  avoid  praise,  but  pursue  your 
end,  though  praise  come  along  in  the  company.  Only  let 
not  praise  be  the  design. 

7.  When  thou  hast  said  or  done  any  thing,  for  which 
thou  receivest  praise  or  estimation,  take  it  indifferently,  and 
return  it  to  God ;  reflecting  upon  him  as  the  giver  of  the 
gift,  or  the  blesser  of  the  action,  or  the  aid  of  the  design : 
and  give  God  thanks  for  making  thee  an  instrument  of  his 
glory,  or  the  benefit  of  others. 

8.  Secure  a  good  name  to  thyself  by  living  virtuously  and 
humbly  ;  but  let  this  good  name  be  nursed  abroad,  and 
never  be  brought  home  to  look  upon  it :  let  others  use  it  for 
their  own  advantage ;  let  them  speak  of  it  if  they  please  ; 
but  do  not  thou  at  all  use  it,  but  as  an  instrument  to  do  God 
glory,  and  thy  neighbour  more  advantage.  Let  thy  face,  like 
Moses's,  shine  to  others,  but  make  no  looking-glasses  for 
thyself. 

9.  Take  no  content  in  praise,  when  it  is  offered  thee  :  but 
let  thy  rejoicing  in  God's  gift  be  allayed  with  fear,  lest  this 
good  bring  thee  to  evil.  Use  the  praise,  as  you  use  your 
pleasure  in  eating  and  drinking:  if  it  comes,  make  it  do 
drudgery,  let  it  serve  other  ends,  and  minister  to  necessities, 
and  to  caution,  lest,  by  pride,  you  lose  your  just  praise,  which 
you  have  deserved ;  or  else,  by  being  praised  unjustly,  you 
receive  shame  into  yourself  with  God  and  wise  men. 

10.  Use  no  stratagems  and  devices  to  get  praise.  Some 
use  to  inquire  into  the  faults  of  their  own  actions  or  dis- 

i2 


73  OF  HUMILITY. 

courses,  on  purpose  to  hear,  that  it  was  well  done  or  spoken, 
and  without  fault :  others  bring  the  matter  into  talk,  or 
thrust  themselves  into  company,  and  intimate  and  give  oc- 
casion to  be  thought  or  spoken  of.  These  men  make  a 
bait  to  persuade  themselves  to  swallow  the  hook,  till  bjr 
drinking  the  waters  of  vanity  they  swell  and  burst. 

11.  Make  no  suppletories  to  thyself,  when  thou  art  dis- 
graced or  slighted,  by  pleasing  thyself  with  supposing  thou 
didst  deserve  praise,  though  they  understood  thee  not,  or 
enviously  detracted  from  thee ;  neither  do  thou  get  to  thy- 
self a  private  theatre  and  flatterers,  in  whose  vain  noises  and 
fantastic  praises  thou  mayest  keep  up  thine  own  good  opi- 
nion of  thyself. 

12.  Entertain  no  fancies  of  vanity  and  private  whispers 
of  this  devil  of  pride  :  such  as  was  that  of  Nebuchadnezzar; 
"  Is  not  this  great  Babylon,  which  I  have  built  for  the  ho- 
nour of  my  name,  and  the  might  of  my  majesty,  and  the 
power  of  my  kingdom  ?"  Some  fantastic  spirits  will  walk 
alone,  and  dream  waking  of  greatnesses,  of  palaces,  of  ex- 
cellent orations,  full  theatres,  loud  applauses,  sudden  ad- 
vancement, great  fortunes,  and  so  will  spend  an  hour  with 
imaginative  pleasure ;  all  their  employment  being  nothing 
but  fumes  of  pride,  and  secret  indefinite  desires  and  signi- 
fications of  what  their  heart  wishes.  In  this,  although  there 
is  nothing  of  its  own  nature  directly  vicious,  yet  it  is  either 
an  ill  mother  or  an  ill  daughter,  an  ill  sign  or  an  ill  effect  ; 
and  therefore  at  no  hand  consisting  with  the  safety  and  in- 
terests of  humility. 

13.  Suffer  others  to  be  praised  in  thy  presence,  and  en- 
tertain their  good  and  glory  with  delight ;  but  at  no  hand 
disparage  them,  or  lessen  the  report,  or  make  an  objection  ; 
and  think  not  the  advancement  of  thy  brother  is  a  lessening 
of  thy  worth.     But  this  act  is  also  to  extend  further. 

14.  Be  content  that  he  should  be  employed,  and  thou  laid 
by  as  unprofitable  ;  his  sentence  approved,  thine  rejected  ; 
he  be  preferred,  and  thou  fixed  in  a  low  employment. 

15.  Never  compare  thyself  with  others,  unless  it  be  to 
advance  them  and  to  depress  thyself.  To  which  purpose, 
we  must  be  sure  in  some  sense  or  other  to  think  ourselves 
the  worst  in  every  company,  where  we  come :  one  is  more 
learned  than  I  am,  another  is  more  prudent,  a  third  more 
honourable,  a  fourth  more  chaste,  or  he  is  more  charitable, 
or  less  proud.     For  the  humble  man  observes  their  good, 


OF  HUMILITY.  79 

and  reflects  only  upon  his  own  vileness  ;  or  considers  the 
many  evils  of  himself  certainly  known  to  himself,  and  the 
ill  of  others  but  by  uncertain  report :  or  he  considers,  that 
the  evils,  done  by  another,  are  out  of  much  infirmity  or 
ig"norance,  but  his  own  sins  are  against  a  clearer  light ; 
and  if  the  other  had  so  great  helps,  he  would  have  done 
more  good  and  less  evil :  or  he  remembers,  that  his  old 
sins  before  his  conversion  were  greater  in  the  nature  of  the 
thing,  or  in  certain  circumstances,  than  the  sins  of  other 
men.  So  St.  Paul  reckoned  himself  the  chiefestof  sinners, 
because  formerly  he  had  acted  the  chiefest  sin  of  perse- 
cuting llio  cluirch  of  God.  But  this  rule  is  to  be  used  with 
this  caution :  that  though  it  be  good  always  to  think 
meanest  of  ourselves,  yet  it  is  not  ever  safe  to  speak  it  ; 
because  those  circumstances  and  considerations  which  de- 
termine thy  thoughts,  are  not  known  to  others  as  to  thy- 
self; and  it  may  concern  others,  that  they  hear  thee  give 
God  thanks  for  the  graces  he  hath  given  thee.  But  if 
thou  preservest  thy  thoughts  and  opinions  of  thyself  truly 
humble,  you  may  with  more  safety  give  God  thanks  in 
public  for  that  good  which  cannot,  or  ought  not  to  be  con- 
cealed. 

16.  Be  not  always  ready  to  excuse  every  oversight,  or 
indiscretion,  or  ill  action:  but  if  thou  beest  guilty  of  it, 
confess  it  plainly  ;  for  virtue  scorns  a  lie  for  its  cover  :  but 
to  hide  a  sin  with  it,  is  like  a  crust  of  leprosy  drawn  upon 
an  ulcer.  If  thou  beest  not  guilty  (unless  it  be  scandalous,) 
be  not  over  earnest  to  remove  it,  but  rather  use  it  as  an  ar- 
gument to  chastise  all  greatness  of  fancy  and  opinion  in 
thyself;  and  accustom  thyself  to  bear  reproof  patiently  and 
contentedly,  and  the  harsh  words  of  thy  enemies,  as  know- 
ing that  the  anger  of  an  enemy  is  a  better  monitor,  and 
represents  our  faults,  or  admonishes  us  of  our  duty  with 
more  heartiness,  than  the  kindness  does,  or  precious  balms 
of  a  friend. 

17.  Give  God  thanks  for  every  weakness,  deformity,  and 
imperfection,  and  accept  it  as  a  favour  and  grace  of  God, 
and  an  instrument  to  resist  pride,  and  nurse  humility  ;  ever 
remembering,  that  when  God,  by  giving  thee  a  crooked 
back,  hath  also  made  thy  spirit  stoop,  or  less  vain,  thou 
art  more  ready  to  enter  the  narrow  gate  of  heaven,  than 
by  being  straight,  and  standing  upright,  and  thinking  highly. 
Thus  the  apostles  rejoiced  in  their  infirmities,  not  moral, 


80  OF  IIUMIIJTY. 

but  natural  and  accidental,  in  their  being  beaten  and  whipt 
like  slaves,  in  their  nakedness  and  poverty. 

18.  Upbraid  no  man's  vv^eakness  to  him  to  discomfort 
him,  neither  report  it  to  disparage  him,  neither  delight  to 
remember  it  to  lessen  him,  or  to  set  thyself  above  him. 
Be  sure  never  to  praise  thyself,  or  to  dispraise  any  man 
else,  unless  God's  glory  or  some  holy  end  do  hallow  it. 
And  it  was  noted  to  the  praise  of  Cyrus,  that  among  his 
equals  in  age,  he  would  never  play  at  any  sport,  or  use  any 
exercise,  in  which  he  knew  himself  more  excellent  than 
they  :  but  in  such,  in  which  he  was  unskilful,  he  would 
make  his  challenges,  lest  he  should  shame  them  by  his 
victory,  and  that  himself  might  learn  something  of  their 
skill,  and  do  them  civilities. 

19.  Besides  the  foregoing  parts  and  actions,  humility 
teaches  us  to  submit  ourselves  and  all  our  faculties  to  God, 
"  to  believe  all  things,  to  do  all  things,  to  suffer  all  things," 
which  his  will  enjoins  us  ;  to  be  content  in  every  estate  or 
change,  knowing  we  have  deserved  worse  than  the  worst 
we  feel ;  and  (as  Anytus  said  to  Alcibiades)  he  hath  taken 
but  half,  when  he  might  have  taken  all :  to  adore  his  good- 
ness, to  fear  his  greatness,  to  worship  his  eternal  and  in- 
finite excellences,  and  to  submit  ourselves  to  all  our  supe- 
riors, in  all  things,  according  to  godliness,  and  to  be  meek 
and  gentle  in  our  conversation  towards  others. 

Now  although,  according  to  the  nature  of  every  grace, 
this  begins  as  a  gift,  and  is  increased  like  a  habit,  that  is, 
l)est  by  its  own  acts ;  yet  besides  the  former  acts  and  offi- 
ces of  humility,  there  are  certain  other  exercises  and  con- 
siderations, which  are  good  helps  and  instruments  for  the 
procuring  and  increasing  this  grace,  and  the  curing  of  pride. 

Means  and  Exercises  fo?'  obtaining  and  increasing  the 
Grace  of  Humility. 

1.  Make  confession  of  thy  sins  often  to  God  ;  and  con- 
sider what  all  that  evil  amounts  to,  which  you  then  charge 
upon  yourself.  Look  not  upon  them  as  scattered  in  the 
course  of  a  long  life ;  now,  an  intemperate  anger,  then,  too 
full  a  meal ;  now  idle  talking,  and  another  time,  impa- 
tience :  but  unite  them  into  one  continued  representation, 
and  remember,  that  he  whose  life  seems  fair,  by  reason 
that  his  faults  are  scattered  at  large  distances  in  the  se- 
veral parts  of  his  life,  yet,  if  all  his  errors  and  follies  were 


OF  HURHLITY.  81 

articled  against  him,  the  man  would  seem  vicious  and  mi- 
serable :  and  possibly  this  exorcise,  really  applied  upon  thy 
spirit,  may  be  useful. 

2.  Remember  that  we  usually  disparage  others  upon 
slight  grounds  and  little  instances  ;  and  towards  them  one 
fly  is  enough  to  spoil  a  whole  box  of  ointment :  and  if  a 
man  be  highly  commended,  we  think  him  sufficiently  les- 
sened, if  we  clap  one  sin  of  folly  or  infirmity  into  his  ac- 
count. Let  us,  therefore,  be  just  to  ourselves,  since  we 
are  so  severe  to  others,  and  consider,  that  whatsoever  good 
any  one  can  think  or  say  of  us,  we  can  tell  him  of  hun- 
dreds of  base,  and  unworthy,  and  foolish  actions,  any  one 
of  which  were  enough  (we  hope)  to  destroy  another's  repu- 
tation :  tiierefore,  let  so  many  be  sufficient  to  destroy  our 
over-high  thoughts  of  ourselves. 

3.  When  our  neighbour  is  cried  up  by  public  fame  and 
popular  noises,  that  we  may  disparage  and  lessen  him,  wc 
cry  out  that  the  people  is  a  herd  of  unlearned  and  igno- 
rant persons,  ill  judges,  loud  trumpets,  but  which  never 
give  certain  sound  :  let  us  use  the  same  art  to  humble  our- 
selves, and  never  take  delight  and  pleasure  in  public  re- 
ports, and  acclamations  of  assemblies,  and  please  ourselves 
with  their  judgment,  of  whom,  in  other  the  like  cases,  we 
affirm  that  they  are  mad. 

4.  We  change  our  opinion  of  others,  by  their  kindness 
or  unkindness  towards  us.  If  he  be  my  patron,  and  boun- 
teous, he  is  wise,  he  is  noble,  his  faults  are  but  warts,  his 
virtues  are  mountainous ;  but  if  he  proves  unkind,  or  re- 
jects our  importunate  suit,  then  he  is  ill-natured,  covetous, 
and  his  free  meal  is  called  gluttony  :  that  which  before  we 
called  civility,  is  now  very  drunkenness  ;  and  all  he  speaks 
is  flat  and  dull,  and  ignorant  as  a  swine.  This,  indeed,  is 
unjust  towards  others  ;  but  a  good  instrument,  if  we  turn 
the  edge  of  it  upon  ourselves.  We  use  ourselves  ill, 
abusing  ourselves  with  false  principles,  cheating  ourselves 
with  lies  and  pretences,  stealing  the  choice  and  election 
from  our  wills,  placing  voluntary  ignorance  in  our  under- 
standings, denying  the  desires  of  the  spirit,  setting  up  a 
faction  against  every  noble  and  just  desire  ;  the  least  of 
which,  because  we  should  resent  up  to  reviling  the  injurious 
person,  it  is  but  reason  we  should  at  least  not  flatter  our- 
selves with  fond  and  too  kind  opinions. 

5.  Every  day  call  to  mind  some  one  of  thy  foulest  sins. 


82  OF  HUMILITY. 

or  the  most  shameful  of  thy  disgraces,  or  the  indiscreetest 
of  thy  actions,  or  any  thing  that  did  then  most  trouble 
thee,  and  apply  it  to  the  present  swelling  of  thy  spirit  and 
opinion,  and  it  may  help  to  allay  it. 

6.  Pray  often  for  his  grace,  with  all  humility  of  gesture 
and  passion  of  desire ;  and  in  thy  devotion  interpose  many 
acts  of  humility,  by  way  of  confession  and  address  to  God, 
and  reflection  upon  thyself. 

7.  Avoid  great  offices  and  employments,  and  the  noises 
of  worldly  honour.  For  in  those  states,  many  times  so 
many  ceremonies  and  circumstances  will  seem  necessary, 
as  will  destroy  the  sobriety  of  thy  thoughts.  If  the  num- 
ber of  thy  servants  be  fewer,  and  their  observances  less, 
and  their  reverences  less  solemn,  possibly  they  will  seem 
less  than  thy  dignity;  and  if  they  be  so  much  and  so  many, 
it  is  likely  they  will  be  too  big  for  thy  spirit.  And  here 
be  thou  very  careful,  lest  thou  be  abused  by  a  pretence, 
that  thou  wouldst  use  thy  great  dignity  as  an  opportunity 
of  doing  great  good.  •  For  supposing  it  might  be  good  for 
others,  yet  it  is  not  good  for  thee  ;  they  may  have  encou- 
ragement in  noble  things  from  thee,  and,  by  the  same  in- 
strument, thou  mayest  thyself'  be  tempted  to  pride  and  va- 
nity. And  certain  it  is,  God  is  as  much  glorified  by  thy 
example  of  humility  in  a  low  or  temperate  condition,  as  by 
thy  bounty  in  a  great  and  dangerous. 

8.  Make  no  reflex  acts  upon  thy  own  humility,  nor  upon 
any  other  grace,  with  which  God  hath  enriched  thy  soul. 
For  since  God  oftentimes  hides  from  his  saints  and  servants 
the  sight  of  those  excellent  things,  by  which  they  shine  to 
others  (though  the  dark  side  of  the  lantern  be  towards 
themselves,)  that  he  may  secure  the  grace  of  humility;  it 
is  good  that  thou  dO  so  thyself:  and  if  thou  beholdest  a 
grace  of  God  in  thee,  remember  to  give  him  thanks  for  it, 
that  thou  mayest  not  boast  in  that,  which  is  none  of  thy 
own :  and  consider  how  thou  hast  sullied  it,  by  handling  it 
with  dirty  fingers,  with  thy  own  imperfections,  and  with 
mixture  of  unhandsome  circumstances.  Spiritual  pride  is 
very  dangerous,  not  only  by  reason  it  spoils  so  many  graces, 
by  which  we  drew  nigh  unto  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  also 
because  it  so  frequently  creeps  upon  the  spirit  of  holy  per- 
sons. For  it  is  no  wonder  for  a  beggar  to  call  himself 
poor,  or  a  drunkard  to  confess  that  he  is  no  sober  person  ; 
but  for  a  holy  person  to  be  humble,  for  one  whom  all  men 


OF  HUMILITY.  83 

esteem  a  saint,  to  fear  lest  himself  become  a  devil,  and  to 
observe  his  own  danger,  and  to  discern  his  own  infirmities, 
and  make  discovery  of  his  bad  adherences,  is  as  hard  as 
for  a  prince  to  submit  himself  to  be  guided  by  tutors,  and 
make  himself  subject  to  discipline,  like  the  meanest  of  his 
servants. 

9.  Often  meditate  upon  the  effects  of  pride,  on  one  side, 
and  humility  on  the  other.  First,  That  pride  is  like  a  can- 
ker, and  destroys  the  beauty  of  the  fairest  flowers,  the  most 
excellent  gifts  and  graces ;  but  humility  crowns  them  all. 
Secondly,  That  pride  is  a  great  hindcrance  to  the  perceiving 
the  things  of  God  ;*  and  humility  is  an  excellent  prepara- 
tive and  instrument  of  spiritual  wisdom.  Thirdly,  That 
pride  hinders  the  acceptation  of  our  prayers ;  but  "  humi- 
lity pierceth  the  clouds,  and  will  not  depart  till  the  Most 
High  shall  regard."  Fourthly,  That  humility  is  but  a 
speaking  truth,  and  all  pride  is  a  lie.  Fifthly,  That  humi- 
lity is  the  most  certain  way  to  real  honour,  and  pride  is 
ever  affronted  or  despised.  Sixthly,  That  pride  turned 
Lucifer  into  a  devil,  and  humility  exalted  the  Son  of  God 
above  every  name,  and  placed  him  eternally  at  the  right 
hand  of  his  Father.  Seventhly,  That  "  God  resisteth  the 
proud, "f  professing  open  defiance  and  hostility  against 
such  persons ;  but  "  giveth  grace  to  the  humble :"  grace 
and  pardon,  remedy  and  relief  against  misery  and  oppres- 
sion, content  in  all  conditions,  tranquillity  of  spirit,  patience 
in  afflictions,  love  abroad,  peace  at  home,  and  utter  freedom 
from  contention,  and  the  sin  of  censuring  others,  and  the 
trouble  of  being  censured  themselves.  For  the  humble 
man  will  not  "judge  his  brother  for  the  mote  in  his  eye," 
being  more  troubled  at  "  the  beam  in  his  own  eye ;"  and  is 
patient  and  glad  to  be  reproved,  because  himself  hath  cast 
the  first  stone  at  himself,  and  therefore  wonders  not,  that 
others  are  of  his  mind. 

10.  Remember  that  the  blessed  Saviour  of  the  world 
hath  done  more  to  prescribe,  and  transmit,  and  secure  this 
grace,  than  any  other ;:{:  his  whole  life  being  a  great  con- 
tinued example  of  humility,  a  vast  descent  from  the  glori- 
ous bosom  of  his  Father  to  the  womb  of  a  poor  maiden,  to 
the  form  of  a  servant,  to  the  miseries  of  a  sinner,  to  a  life 
of  labour,  to  a  state  of  poverty,  to  a  de«ith  of  malefactors,  to 
the  grave  of  death,  and  the  intolerable  calamities  which  we 

*  Matt  li.  25.  t  James  iv.  6.  t  John  xiii.  15. 


84  OF  HUMILITY. 

deserved ;  and  it  were  a  good  desi^,  and  yet  but  reasona- 
ble,  that  we  should  be  as  humble  in  the  midst  of  our  greatest 
imperfections  and  basest  sins,  as  Christ  was  in  the  midst  of 
his  fulness  of  the  Spirit,  great  wisdom,  perfect  life,  and  most 
admirable  virtues. 

11.  Drive  away  all  flatterers  from  thy  company,  and  at  no 
hand  endure  them;  for  he  that  endures  !mself  so  to  be 
abused  by  another,  is  not  only  a  fool  for  entertaining  the 
mockery,  but  loves  to  have  his  own  opinion  of  himself  to  be 
heightened  and  cherished. 

12.  Never  change  thy  employment  for  the  sudden  coming 
of  another  to  thee ;  but  if  modesty  permits,  or  discretion,  ap- 
pear to  him  that  visits  thee,  the  same  that  thou  wert  to  God 
and  thyself  in  thy  privacy.  But  if  thou  wert  walking  or 
sleeping,  or  in  any  other  innocent  employment  or  retirement, 
snatch  not  up  a  book  to  seem  studious,  nor  fall  on  thy  knees 
to  seem  devout,  nor  alter  any  thing  to  make  him  believe 
thee  better  employed  than  thou  wert. 

13.  To  the  same  purpose  it  is  of  great  use,  that  he  who 
would  preserve  his  humility,  should  choose  some  spiritual 
person  to  whom  he  shall  oblige  himself  to  discover  his  very 
thoughts  and  fancies,  every  act  of  his  and  all  his  inter- 
course with  others,  in  which  there  may  be  danger;  that 
by  such  an  openness  of  spirit  he  may  expose  every  blast 
of  vain-glory,  every  idle  thought,  to  be  chastened  and  les- 
sened by  the  rod  of  spiritual  discipline  :  and  he  that  shall 
find  himself  tied  to  confess  every  proud  thought,  every  va- 
nity of  his  spirit,  will  also  perceive  they  must  not  dwell  with 
him,  nor  find  any  kindness  from  him :  and  besides  this,  the 
nature  of  pride  is  so  shameful  and  unhandsome,  that  the 
very  discovery  of  it  is  a  huge  mortification  and  means  of 
suppressing  it.  A  man  would  be  ashamed  to  be  told,  that 
he  inquires  after  the  faults  of  his  last  oration  or  action  on 
purpose  to  be  commended :  and  therefore,  when  the  man 
shall  tell  his  spiritual  guide  the  same  shameful  story  of 
himself,  it  is  very  likely  he  will  be  humbled,  and  heartily 
ashamed  of  it. 

14.  Let  every  man  suppose  what  opinion  he  should 
have  of  one  that  should  spend  his  time  in  playing  with 
drum-sticks  and  cockle-shells,  and  that  should  wrangle  all 
day  long  with  a  little  boy  for  pins,  or  should  study  hard, 
and  labour  to  cozen  a  child  of  his  gauds  ;  and,  who  would 
run  into  a  river,  deep  and  dangerous,  with  a  great  burden 


OF  HUMILITY.  85 

Upon  his  back,  even  then  wlien  he  were  told  of  the  dangler, 
and  earnestly  importuned  not  to  do  it  ?  and  let  him  but 
change  the  instances  and  the  person,  and  he  shall  find 
that  he  hath  the  same  reason  to  think  as  bad  of  himself,  who 
pursues  trifles  with  earnestness,  spending  his  time  in  vanity, 
and  his  "  labour  for  that  which  profits  not ;"  who  knowing 
the  laws  of  God,  the  rewards  of  virtue,  the  cursed  conse- 
quents of  sin,  that  it  is  an  evil  spirit  that  tempts  him  to  it ;  a 
devil,  one  that  hates  him,  that  longs  extremely  to  ruin  him  ; 
that  it  is  his  own  destruction  that  he  is  then  working;  that 
the  pleasures  of  his  sin  are  base  and  brutish,  unsatisfying 
in  the  enjoyment,  soon  over,  shameful  in  their  story,  bitter 
in  the  memory,  painful  in  the  eflfect  here,  and  intolerable 
hereafter,  and  for  ever ;  yet  in  despite  of  all  this,  he  runs 
foolishly  into  his  sin  and  his  ruin,  merely  because  he  is  a 
fool,  and  winks  hard,  and  rushes  violently  like  a  horse  into 
the  battle,  or  like  a  madman  to  his  death.  He  that  can 
think  great  and  good  things  of  such  a  person,  the  next  step 
may  court  the  rack  for  an  instrument  of  pleasure,  and  ad- 
mire a  swine  for  wisdom,  and  go  for  counsel  to  the  prodigal 
and  trifling  grasshopper. 

After  the  use  of  these  and  such-like  instruments  and  con- 
siderations, if  you  would  try,  how  your  soul  is  grown,  you 
shall  know  that  humility,  like  the  root  of  a  goodly  tree,  is  • 
thrust  very  far  into  the  ground,  by  these  goodly  fruits,  which 
appear  above  ground. 

Signs  of  Humility. 

1.  The  humble  man  trusts  not  to  his  own  discretion, 
but  in  matter  of  concernment  relies  rather  upon  the  judg- 
ment of  his  friends,  counsellors,  or  spiritual  guides.  2. 
He  does  not  pertinaciously  pursue  the  choice  of  his  own 
will,  but  in  all  things  lets  God  choose  for  him,  and  his  su- 
periors in  those  things  which  concern  them.  3.  He  does 
not  murmur  against  commands.  4.  He  is  not  inquisitive  into 
the  reasonableness  of  indifferent  and  innocent  commands, 
but  believes  their  command  to  be  reason  enough  in  such 
cases  to  exact  his  obedience.  5.  He  lives  according  to  a  rule, 
and  with  compliance  to  public  customs,  without  any  affect- 
ation or  singularity.  6.  He  is  meek  and  indifferent  in  all  ac- 
cidents and  chances.  7.  He  patiently  bears  injuries.  8.  He 
is  always  unsatisfied  in  his  own  conduct,  resolutions,  and 
counsels.  9.  He  is  a  great  lover  of  good  men,  and  a  praiser 
of  wise  men,  and  a  censurer  of  no  man.  10.  He  is  modest 
K 


QQ  OF  MODESTY. 

in  his  speech,  and  reserved  in  his  laughter.  11.  He  fears, 
when  he  hears  himself  commended,  lest  God  make  another 
judgment  concerning  his  actions  than  men  do.  12.  He  gives 
no  pert  or  saucy  answers,  when  he  is  reproved,  whether 
justly  or  unjustly.  13.  He  loves  to  sit  down  in  private,  and, 
if  he  may,  he  refuses  the  temptation  of  offices  and  new  ho- 
nours. 14.  He  is  ingenuous,  free,  and  open,  in  his  actions 
and  discourses.  15.  He  mends  his  fault,  and  gives  thanks, 
when  he  is  admonished.  16.  He  is  ready  to  do  good  offices 
to  the  murderers  of  his  fame,  to  his  slanderers,  backbiters, 
and  detractors,  as  Christ  washed  the  feet  of  Judas.  17.  And 
is  contented  to  be  suspected  of  indiscretion,  so  before  God 
he  may  be  really  innocent,  and  not  offensive  to  his  neigh- 
bour, nor  wanting  to  his  just  and  prudent  interest. 

SECTION  V. 
Of  Modesty. 
Modesty  is  the  appendage  of  sobriety,  and  is  to  chastity, 
to  temperance,  and  to  humility,  as  the  fringes  are  to  a  gar- 
ment. It  is  a  grace  of  God,  that  moderates  the  overactive- 
ness  and  curiosity  of  the  mind,  and  orders  the  passions  of 
the  body  and  external  actions,  and  is  directly  opposed  to 
curiosity,  to  boldness,  to  indecency.  The  practice  of  mo- 
desty consists  in  these  following  rules. 

Aets  and  Duties  of  Modesty^  as  it  is  opposed  to  Curiosity. 

1.  Inquire  not  into  the  secrets  of  God,*  but  be  content 
to  learn  thy  duty  according  to  the  quality  of  thy  person  or 
employment ;  that  is,  plainly,  if  thou  beest  not  concerned 
in  the  conduct  of  others  ;  but  if  thou  beest  a  teacher,  learn 
it  so,  as  may  best  enable  thee  to  discharge  thy  office.  God's 
commandments  were  proclaimed  to  all  the  world ;  but  God's 
counsels  are  to  himself  and  to  his  secret  ones,  when  they 
are  admitted  within  the  veil. 

2.  Inquire  not  into  the  things  which  are  too  hard  for 
thee,  but  learn  modestly  to  know  thy  infirmities  and  abili- 
ties ;  and  raise  not  thy  mind  up  to  inquire  into  mysteries 
of  state,  or  the  secrets  of  government,  or  difficulties  theo- 
logical, if  thy  employment  really  be.  or  thy  understanding 
be  judged  to  be,  of  a  lower  rank. 

3.  Let  us  not  inquire  into  the  affairs  of  others  that  con- 
cern us  not,  but  be  busied  within  ourselves  and  our  own 

*  Eccles.  iii.  21,  22. 


OF  MODESTY.  87 

spheres ;  ever  remembering  that  to  pry  into  the  actions  or 
interests  of  other  men  not  under  our  charge,  may  minister 
to  pride,  to  tyranny,  to  uncharitableness,  to  trouble,  but 
can  never  consist  with  modesty ;  unless  where  duty,  or  the 
mere  intentions  of  charity  and  relation,  do  warrant  it. 

4.  Never  listen  at  the  doors  or  windows:*  for  besides 
that  it  contains  in  it  danger  and  a  snare,  it  is  also  an  in- 
vading thy  neighbour's  privacy,  and  a  laying  that  open, 
which  he  therefore  enclosed,  that  it  might  not  be  open. 
Never  ask,  what  he  carries  covered  so  curiously  ;  for  it  is 
enough,  that  it  is  covered  curiously.  Hither  also  is  reduci- 
ble, that  we  never  ojien  letters  without  public  authority,  or 
reasonably  presumed  leave,  or  great  necessity,  or  charity. 

Every  man  hath  in  his  own  life  sins  enough,  in  his  own 
mind  trouble  enough,  in  his  own  fortunes  evils  enough, 
ajid  in  performance  of  his  offices  failings  more  than  enough, 
to  entertain  his  own  inquiry  :  so  that  curiosity  after  the 
affairs  of  others  cannot  be  without  envy  and  an  evil  mind. 
What  is  it  to  me,  if  my  neighbour's  grandfather  were  a 
Syrian,  or  his  grandmother  illegitimate  ;  or  that  another 
is  indebted  five  thousand  pounds,  or  wiiether  his  wife  be 
expensive?  But  commonly  curious  persons,  or  (as  the 
apostle's  phrase  is)  "  busy-bodies,"  are  not  solicitous  or  in- 
quisitive into  the  beauty  and  order  of  a  well-governed 
family,  or  after  the  virtues  of  an  excellent  person ;  but  if 
there  be  any  thing  for  which  men  keep  locks  and  bars, 
and  porters,  things  that  blush  to  see  the  light,  and  either 
are  shameful  in  manners,  or  private  in  nature,  these  things 
are  their  care  and  their  business.  But  if  great  things  will 
satisfy  our  inquiry,  the  course  of  the  sun  and  moon,  the 
spots  in  their  faces,  the  firmament  of  heaven,  and  the  sup- 
posed orbs,  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  sea,  are  work 
enough  for  us :  or  if  this  be  not,  let  him  tell  me,  whether 
the  number  of  the  stars  be  even  or  odd,  and  when  they 
beg-an  to  be  so  ;  since  some  ages  have  discovered  new 
stars,  which  the  former  knew  not,  but  might  have  seen,  if 
they  had  been  where  now  they  are  fixed.  If  these  be  too 
troublesome,  search  lower,  and  tell  me,  why  this  turf  this 
year  brings  forth  a  daisy,  and  the  next  year  a  plantain ; 
why  the  apple  be^rs  his  seed  in  his  heart,  and  wheat  bears 
it  in  his  head  ;  let  him  tell,  why  a  graft,  taking  nourish- 
ment from  a  crab-stock,  shall  have  a  fruit  more  noble  than 
*  Eccles.  vii.  21. 


88 


OF  MODESTY. 


its  nurse  and  parent ;  let  him  say,  why  the  best  of  oil  is 
at  the  top,  the  best  of  wine  in  the  middle,  and  the  best  of 
honey  at  the  bottom,  otherwise  than  it  is  in  some  liquors 
that  are  thinner,  and  in  some  that  are  thicker.  But  these 
things  are  not  such  as  please  busy-bodies ;  they  must  feed 
upon  tragedies,  and  stories  of  misfortunes,  and  crimes : 
and  yet  tell  them  ancient  stories  of  the  ravishment  of  chaste 
maidens,  or  the  debauchment  of  nations,  or  the  extreme 
poverty  of  learned  persons,  or  the  persecutions  of  the  old 
saints,  or  the  changes  of  government,  and  sad  accidents 
happening  in  royal  families  amongst  the  Arsacidas,  the 
Caesars,  the  Ptolemies,  these  were  enough  to  scratch  the 
itch  of  knowing  sad  stories  ;  but  unless  you  tell  them  some- 
thing sad  and  new,  something  that  is  done  within  the 
bounds  of  their  own  knowledge  or  relation,  it  seems  tedious 
and  unsatisfying;  which  shows  plainly,  it  is  an  evil  spirit : 
envy  and  idleness  married  together,  and  begot  curiosity. 
Therefore  Plutarch  rarely  well  compares  curious  and  in- 
quisitive ears  to  the  execrable  gates  of  cities,  out  of  which 
only  malefactors,  and  hangmen,  and  tragedies  pass,  nothing 
that  is  chaste  or  holy.  If  a  physician  should  go  from  house 
to  house  imsent  for,  and  inquire  what  woman  hath  a  can- 
cer in  her  bowels,  or  what  man  hath  a  fistula  in  his  cho- 
lic-gut,  though  he  could  pretend  to  cure  it,  he  would  be 
almost  as  unwelcome  as  the  disease  itself:  and  therefore 
it  is  inhuman  to  inquire  after  crimes  and  disasters  without 
pretence  of  amending  them,  but  only  to  discover  them.  We 
are  not  angry  with  searchers  and  publicans,  when  they  look 
only  on  public  merchandise  ;  but  when  they  break  open 
trunks,  and  pierce  vessels,  and  unrip  packs,  and  open  sealed 
letters. 

Curiosity  is  the  direct  incontinency  of  the  spirit ;  and 
adultery  itself,  in  its  principle,  is  many  times  nothing  but 
curious  inquisition  after,  and  envying  of,  another  man's  en- 
closed pleasures  ;  and  there  have  been  many,  who  refused 
fairer  objects,  that  they  might  ravish  an  enclosed  woman 
from  her  retirement  and  single  possessor.  But  these  inqui- 
sitions are  seldom  without  danger,  never  without  baseness  : 
they  are  neither  just,  nor  honest,  nor  delightful,  and  very 
often  useless  to  the  curious  inquirer.  For  men  stand  upon 
their  guards  against  them,  as  they  secure  their  meat  against 
harpies  and  cats,  laying  all  their  counsels  and  secrets  out 
of  their  way ;  or  as  men  clap  their  garments  close  about 


OF  MODESTY.  89 

them,  when  the  searching  and  saucy  winds  should  discover 
their  nakedness  ;  as  knowing,  that  what  men  willingly  hear, 
they  do  willingly  speak  of.  Knock  therefore  at  the  door, 
before  you  enter  upon  your  neighbour's  privacy  ;  and  re- 
member, that  there  is  no  difference  between  entering  into 
his  house,  and  looking  into  it. 

Acts  of  Modesty  as  it  is  opposed  to  Boldness. 

1.  Let  us  always  bear  about  us  such  impressions  of  re- 
verence and  fear  of  God  as  to  tremble  at  his  voice,  to  ex- 
])ress  our  apprehensions  of  his  greatness  in  all  great  acci- 
dents, in  popular  judgments,  loud  thunders,  tempests, 
earthquakes  ;  not  only  for  fear  of  being  smitten  ourselves, 
or  that  we  are  concerned  in  the  accident,  but  also  that  we 
may  humble  ourselves  before  his  Almightincss,  and  express 
that  infinite  distance  between  his  infiniteness  and  our  weak- 
nesses, at  such  times  especially,  when  he  gives  such  visible 
arguments  of  it.  He  that  is  merry  and  airy  at  shore,  when 
he  sees  a  sad  and  a  loud  tempest  on  the  sea ;  or  dances 
briskly,  w^hen  God  thunders  from  heaven,  regards  not,  w^hen 
God  speaks  to  all  the  world,  but  is  possessed  with  a  firm 
immodesty. 

2.  Be  reverent,  modest,  and  reserved,  in  the  presence  of 
thy  betters,  giving  to  all  according  to  their  quality  their 
titles  of  honour,  keeping  distance,  speaking  little,  answering 
pertinently,  not  interposing  without  leave  or  reason,  not  an- 
swering to  a  question  propounded  to  another  ;  and  ever 
present  to  thy  superiors  the  fairest  side  of  thy  discourse,  of 
tliy  temper,  of  thy  ceremony,  as  being  ashamed  to  serve  ex- 
cellent persons  with  unhandsome  intercourse. 

3.  Never  lie  before  a  king,  or  a  great  person,  nor  stand 
in  a  lie,  when  thou  art  accused ;  nor  offer  to  justify,  what 
is  indeed  a  fault ;  but  modestly  be  ashamed  of  it,  ask  par- 
don, and  make  amends. 

4.  Never  boast  of  thy  sin,  but  at  least  lay  a  veil  upon 
thy  nakedness  and  shame,  and  put  thy  hand  before  thine 
eyes,  that  thou  mayest  have  this  beginning  of  repentance, 
to  believe  thy  sin  to  be  thy  shame.  For  he  that  blushes 
not  at  his  crime,  but  adds  shamelessness  to  his  shame,  hath 
no  instrument  left  to  restore  him  to  the  hopes  of  virtue. 

5.  Be  not  confident  and  affirmative  in  an  uncertain  mat- 
ter, but  report  things  modestly  and  temperately,  according 
to  the  degree  of  that  persuasion,  which  is,  or  ought  to  be, 

K  2 


90  OF  MODESTY. 

begotten  in  thee  by  the  efficacy  of  the  authority,  or  the  rea- 
son  inducing^  thee. 

6.  Pretend  not  to  more  knowledge  than  thou  hast,  but 
be  content  to  seem  ignorant  where  thou  art,  lest  thou  beest 
either  brought  to  shame,  or  retirest  into  shanielessness.* 

Acts  of  Modesty  as  it  is  opposed  to  Indecency. 

1.  In  your  prayers,  in  churches,  and  places  of  religion, 
use  reverent  postures,  great  attention,  grave  ceremony,  the 
lowest  gestures  of  humility,  remembering  that  we  speak  to 
God,  in  our  reverence  to  whom  we  cannot  possibly  exceed ; 

.  but  that  the  expression  of  this  reverence  be  according  to 
law  or  custom,  and  the  example  of  the  most  prudent  and 
pious  persons :  that  is,  let  it  be  tlie  best  in  its  kind  to  the 
best  of  essences. 

2.  In  all  public  meetings,  private  addresses,  in  dis- 
courses, in  journeys,  use  those  forms  of  salutation,  rever- 
ence and  decency,  which  the  custom  prescribes,  and  is 
usual  amongst  the  most  sober  persons  :  giving  honour  to 
whom  honour  belongeth,  taking  place  of  none  of  thy  bet- 
ters, and  in  all  cases  of  question  concerning  civil  precedency, 
giving  it  to  any  one  that  will  take  it,  if  it  be  only  thy  own 
right  that  is  in  question. 

3.  Observe  the  proportion  of  affections  in  all  meetings 
and  to  all  persons ;  be  not  merry  at  a  funeral,  nor  sad  upon 
a  festival ;  but  rejoice  with  them  that  rejoice,  and  weep 
with  them  that  weep. 

4.  Abstain  from  wanton  and  dissolute  laughter,  petu- 
lant and  uncomely  jests,  loud  talking,  jeering,  and  all  such 
actions,  which  in  civil  account  are  called  indecencies  and 
incivilities. 

5.  Towards  your  parents  use  all  modesty  of  duty  and 
humble  carriage  ;  towards  them  and  all  your  kindred,  be 
severe  in  the  modesties  of  chastity  ;  ever  fearing,  lest  the 
freedoms  of  natural  kindness  should  enlarge  into  any 
neighbourhood  of  unhandsomeness.  For  all  incestuous 
mixtures,  and  all  circumstances  and  degrees  towards  it,  are 
the  highest  violations  of  modesty  in  the  world :  for  there- 
fore incest  is  grown  to  be  so  high  a  crime,  especially  in 
the  last  periods  of  the  world,  because  it  breaks  that  rever- 
ence, vv^hich  the  consent  of  all  nations  and  the  severity  of 
human  laws  hath  enjoined  towards  our  parents  and  nearest 

*  Eccles.  iii.  22. 


OF  MODESTY.  gj 

kindred,  in  imitation  of  that  law  which  God  gave  to  the 
Jews  in  prosecution  of  modesty  in  this  instance. 

6.  Be  a  curious  observer  of  all  those  things,  which  are 
of  good  report,  and  are  parts  of  public  honesty.*  For  pub- 
lic fame,  and  the  sentence  of  prudent  and  public  persons, 
is  the  measure  of  good  and  evil  in  things  indifferent;  and 
charity  requires  us  to  comply  with  those  fancies  and  affec- 
tions, which  are  agreeable  to  nature,  or  the  analogy  of 
virtue,  or  public  laws,  to  old  customs.  It  is  against  mo- 
desty for  a  woman  to  marry  a  second  husband,  as  long  as 
she  bears  a  burden  by  the  first ;  or  to  admit  a  second  love, 
while  her  funeral  tears  are  not  wiped  from  her  cheeks.  It 
is  against  public  honesty  to  do  some  lawful  actions  of  pri- 
vacy in  public  theatres,  and  therefore  in  such  cases  retire- 
ment is  a  duty  of  modesty. 

7.  Be  grave,  decent,  and  modest,  in  thy  clothing  and 
ornament :  never  let  it  be  above  thy  condition,  nor  always 
equal  to  it,  never  light  or  amorous,  discovering  a  nakedness 
through  a  thin  veil,  which  thou  pretendest  to  hide,  never 
to  lay  a  snare  for  a  soul ;  but  remember  what  becomes  a 
Christian,  professing  holiness,  chastity,  and  the  discipline  of 
the  holy  Jesus  :  and  the  first  effect  of  this  let  your  ser- 
vants feel  by  your  gentleness  and  aptness  to  be  pleased 
with  their  usual  diligence  and  ordinary  conduct.  For  the 
man  or  woman,  that  is  dressed  with  anger  and  impatience, 
wears  pride  under  their  robes,  and  immodesty  above. 

8.  Hither  also  is  to  be  reduced  singular  and  affected 
walking,  proud,  nice,  and  ridiculous  gestures  of  body, 
painting  and  lascivious  dressings  ;  all  which-  together  God 
reproves  by  the  prophet,  "The  Lord  saith,  because  the 
daughters  of  Sion  are  haughty,  and  walk  with  stretched- 
forth  necks  and  wanton  eyes,  walking  and  mincing  as  they 
go,  and  make  a  tinkling  with  their  feet ;  therefore  the  Lord 
will  smite  her  with  a  scab  of  the  crown  of  the  head,  and 
will  take  away  the  bravery  of  their  tinkling  ornaments."f 
And  this  duty  of  modesty,  in  this  instance,  is  expressly 
enjoined  to  all  Christian  women  by  St.  Paul,  "  That  wo- 
men adorn  themselves  in  modest  apparel,  with  shamefaced- 
ness  and  sobriety,  not  with  broidered  hair,  or  gold,  or  pearl, 
or  costly  array,  but  (which  becometh  women  professing 
godliness)  with  good  works.":}: 

9.  As  those  meats  are  to  be  avoided,  which  tempt  our 
*  Philip,  iv.  8.  t  Isa.  iii.  16—18.  t  1  Tim.  ii.  9. 


92  OF  CONTENTEDXESS. 

stomachs  beyond  our  hunger ;  so  also  should  prudent  per- 
sons decline  all  such  spectacles,  relations,  theatres,  loud 
noises  and  outcries,  which  concern  us  not,  and  are  besides 
our  natural  or  moral  interest.  Our  senses  should  not, 
like  petulant  and  wanton  girls,  Avander  into  markets  and 
tlieatres  without  just  employment ;  but  when  they  are  sent 
abroad  by  reason,  return  quickly  with  their  errand,  and 
remain  modestly  at  home  under  their  guide,  till  they  be 
sent  again. 

10.  Let  all  persons  be  curious  in  observing  modesty  to- 
wards themselves,  in  the  handsome  treating  their  own  body, 
and  such  as  are  in  their  power,  whether  living  or  dead. 
Against  this  rule,  they  offend,  who  expose  to  others  their 
own,  or  pry  into  others'  nakedness  beyond  the  limits  of 
necessity,  or  Avhere  a  leave  is  not  made  holy  by  a  permis- 
sion from  God.  It  is  also  said,  that  God  was  pleased  to 
work  a  miracle  about  the  body  of  Epiphanius,  to  reprove 
the  immodest  curiosity  of  an  unconcerned  person,  who 
pried  too  near,  when  charitable  people  were  composing  it 
to  the  grave.  In  all  these  cases  and  particulars,  although 
they  seem  little,  yet  our  duty  and  concernment  is  not  little. 
Concerning  which  I  use  the  words  of  the  son  of  Sirach, 
"  He  that  despiseth  little  things,  shall  perish  by  little  and 
little." 

SECTION  VI. 
Of  Contenfcdness  in  all  Estates  and  Accidents. 
Virtues  and  discourses  are,  like  friends,  necessary  in  all 
fortunes  ;  buf  those  are  the  best,  which  are  friends  in  our 
sadnesses,  and  support  us  in  our  sorrows  and  sad  acci- 
dents :  and  in  this  sense,  no  man  that  is  virtuous,  can  be 
friendless  ;  nor  hath  any  man  reason  to  complain  of  the 
Divine  Providence,  or  accuse  the  public  disorder  of  things, 
or  his  own  infelicity,  since  God  hath  appointed  one  re- 
medy for  all  the  evils  in  the  world,  and  that  is  a  contented 
spirit :  for  this  alone  makes  a  man  pass  through  fire,  and 
not  be  scorched ;  through  seas,  and  not  be  drowned  ; 
through  hunger  and  nakedness,  and  want  nothing.  For 
since  all  the  evil  in  the  world  consists  in  the  disagreeing' 
between  the  object  and  the  appetite,  as  when  a  man  hath 
what  he  desires  not,  or  desires  what  he  hath  not,  or  desires 
amiss  :  he  that  composes  his  spirit  in  the  present  accident, 
hath  variety  of  instances  for  his  virtue,  but  none  to  trou- 


OF  COXTENTEDNESS.  93 

ble  him ;  because  his  desires  enlarge  not  beyond  his  pre- 
sent fortune:  and  a  wise  man  is  placed  in  the  variety  of 
chances,  like  the  nave  or  centre  of  a  wheel,  in  the  midst 
of  all  the  circumvolutions  and  changes  of  posture,  without 
violence  or  change,  save  that  it  turns  gently  in  compliance 
with  its  changed  parts,  and  is  indifferent,  which  part  is  up, 
and  which  is  down  ;  for  there  is  some  virtue  or  other  to  be 
exercised,  whatever  happens,  either  patience  or  thanks- 
giving, love  or  fear,  moderation  or  humility,  charity  or  con- 
tentcdness,  and  they  are  every  one  of  them  equally  in  order 
to.  his  great  end  and  immortal  felicity:  and  beauty  is  not 
made  by  white  or  red,  by  black  eyes  and  a  round  face,  by 
a  straight  body  and  a  smooth  skin :  but  by  a  proportion  to 
the  fancy.  No  rules  can  make  amiability;  our  minds  and 
apprehensions  make  that;  and  so  is  our  felicity:  and  we 
may  be  reconciled  to  poverty  and  a  low  fortune,  if  we  suf- 
fer contentedness  and  the  grace  of  God  to  make  the  pro- 
portions. For  no  man  is  poor,  that  does  not  think  himself 
so :  but  if,  in  a  full  fortune,  with  impatience  he  desires 
more,  he  proclaims  his  wants  and  his  beggarly  condition. 
But  because  this  grace  of  contentedness  was  the  sum  of  all 
the  old  moral  philosophy,  and  a  great  duty  in  Christianity, 
and  of  most  universal  use  in  the  whole  course  of  our  lives, 
and  the  only  instrument  to  ease  the  burdens  of  the  world 
and  the  enmities  of  sad  chances,  it  will  not  be  amiss  to 
press  it  by  the  proper  arguments,  by  which  God  hath  bound 
it  upon  our  spirits,  it  being  fastened  by  reason  and  reli- 
gion, by  duty  and  interest,  by  necessity  and  conveniency, 
by  example,  and  by  the  proposition  of  excellent  rewards, 
no  less  than  peace  and  felicity; 

1.  Contentedness  in  all  estates  is  a  duty  of  religion:  it 
is  the  great  reasonableness  of  complying  with  the  Divine 
Providence,  which  governs  all  the  world,  and  hath  so  or- 
dered us  in  the  administration  of  his  great  family.  He 
were  a  strange  fool,  that  should  be  angry,  because  dogs 
and  sheep  need  no  shoes,  and  yet  himself  is  full  of  care  to 
get  some.  God  hath  supplied  those  needs  to  them  by 
natural  provisions,  and  to  thee  by  an  artificial :  for  he  hath 
given  thee  reason  to  learn  a  trade,  or  some  means  to  make 
or  buy  them,  so  that  it  only  differs  in  the  manner  of  our 
provision ;  and  which  had  you  rather  want,  shoes  or  rea- 
son ?  And  my  patron  that  hath  given  me  a  farm,  is  freer  to 
me  than  if  he  gives  a  loaf  ready  baked.     But,  however,  all 


94  OF  CONTF.NTrDNESS. 

these  g-ifts  come  from  him,  and  therefore  it  is  fit  he  should 
dispense  them  as  he  pleases  ;  and  if  we  murmur  here,  we 
may,  at  the  next  melancholy,  be  troubled,  that  God  did  not 
make  us  to  be  angels  or  stars.  For  if  that,  which  we  are 
or  have,  do  not  content  us,  we  may  be  troubled  for  every 
thing  in  the  world,  which  is  besides  our  being  or  our  pos- 
sessions. 

God  is  the  master  of  the  scenes ;  we  must  not  choose 
which  part  we  shall  act :  it  concerns  us  only  to  be  careful 
that  we  do  it  well,  always  saying,  '•  If  this  please  God,  let 
it  be  as  it  is  :"  and  we  who  pray,  that  God's  wiil  may  .be 
done  in  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven,  must  remember,  that  the 
angels  do  whatsoever  is  commanded  them,  and  go  wher- 
ever they  are  sent,  and  refuse  no  circumstances ;  and  if 
their  employment  be  crossed  by  a  higher  degree,  they  sit 
down  in  peace  and  rejoice  in  the  event ;  and  when  the 
angel  of  Judea  could  not  prevail  in  behalf  of  the  people 
committed  to  his  charge,*  because  the  angel  of  Persia  op- 
posed it,  he  only  told  the  story  at  the  command  of  God, 
and  was  as  content,  and  worshipped  with  as  great  an  ec- 
stacy  in  his  proportion,  as  the  prevailinsr  spirit.  Do  thou 
so  likewise  :  keep  the  station,  where  God  hath  placed  you, 
and  you  shall  never  long  for  things  without,  but  sit  at  home 
feasting  upon  the  Divine  providence  and  thy  own  reason, 
by  which  we  are  taught,  that  it  is  necessary  and  reasonable 
to  submit  to  God. 

For  is  not  all  the  world  God's  family  ?  Are  not  we  his 
creatures  ?  Are  we  not  as  clay  in  the  hand  of  the  potter? 
Do  we  not  live  upon  his  meat,  and  move  by  his  strength, 
and  do  our  work  by  his  light  ?  Are  we  any  thing,  but  what 
we  are  from  him  1  And  shall  there  be  a  mutiny  among  the 
flocks  and  herds,  because  their  Lord  or  their  shepherd 
chooses  their  pastures,  and  sutlers  them  not  to  wander  into 
deserts  and  unknown  ways  ?  If  we  choose,  we  do  it  so  fool- 
ishly, that  we  cannot  like  it  long,  and  most  commonly  not 
at  all  :  but  God,  who  can  do  what  he  pleases,  is  wise  to 
cioose  sai'ely  for  us,  affectionate  to  comply  with  our  needs, 
and  powerful  to  execute  all  his  wise  decrees.  Here  there- 
fore is  the  wisdom  of  the  contented  man,  to  let  God  choose 
for  him  :  for  wiien  we  have  given  up  our  wills  to  him,  and 
stand  in  that  station  of  the  battle,  where  our  great  general 
hath  placed  us,  our  spirits  must  needs  rest,  while  our  con- 

*Dan.  X.  13. 


OF  COXTENTEDXESS.  95 

fiitions  have,  for  their  security,  the  power,  the  wisdom,  and 
the  charity  of  God. 

2.  Contcnteddess,  in  all  accidents,  brinj^s  ^eat  peace 
of  spirit,  and  is  the  ^rroat  and  only  instrunnent  of  temporal 
felicity.  It  removes  the  sting  from  the  accident,  and  makes 
a  man  not  to  (lej>end  upon  chance,  and  the  uncertain  dis- 
positions of  men  for  his  well-bein^,  but  only  on  God  and 
his  own  spirit.  We  ourselves  make  our  fortunes  j^ood  or 
bad ;  and  when  God  lets  loose  a  tyrant  upon  us,  or  a  sick- 
ness, or  scorn,  or  a  lessened  fortune,  if  we  fear  to  die,  or 
know  not  to  be  patient,  or  are  proud,  or  covetous,  then  the 
calamity  sits  heavy  on  us.  But  if  we  know  how  to  manage 
a  noble  principle,  and  fear  not  death  so  much  as  a  dis- 
honest action,  and  think  impatience  a  worse  evil  than  a  fever, 
and  pride  to  be  the  biggest  disgrace,  and  poverty  to  be  in- 
finitely desirable  before  the  torments  of  covetousne>ss  ;  then 
we,  who  now  think  vice  to  be  so  easy,  and  make  it  so  fa- 
miliar, and  think  the  cure  so  impossible,  shall  quickly  be 
of  another  mind,  and  reckon  these  accidents  amongst  things 
eligible. 

But  no  man  can  be  happy  that  hath  great  hopes  and 
great  fears  of  things  vvithout,  and  events  depending  uf>on 
other  men,  or  upon  the  chances  of  fortune.  The  rewards 
of  virtue  are  certain,  and  our  provisions  for  our  natural 
support  are  certain  ;  or  if  we  want  meat  till  we  die,  then 
we  die  of  that  disease,  and  there  are  many  worse  than  to 
die  with  an  atrophy  or  consumption,  or  unapt  and  coarser 
nourishment.  But  he  that  suffers  a  transporting  passion 
concerning  things  within  the  power  of  others,  is  free  from 
sorrow  and  amazement  no  longer  than  his  enemy  shall 
give  him  leave  ;  and  it  is  ten  to  one  but  he  shall  be  smitten 
then  and  there,  where  it  shall  most  trouble  him  :  for  so  the 
adder  teaches  us  where  to  strike,  by  her  curious  and  fear- 
ful defending  of  her  head.  The  old  stoics,  when  you  told 
them  of  a  sad  story  would  still  answer,  "  What  is  that  to 
me  ? — Yes,  for  the  tyrant  hath  sentenced  you  also  to  prisoru 
— Well,  what  is  that  ?  He  will  put  a  chain  upon  my  leg ; 
but  he  cannot  bind  my  soul. — No :  but  he  will  kill  you. — 
Then  I  will  die.  If  presently,  let  me  go,  that  I  may  pre- 
sently be  freer  than  himself:  but  if  not  till  anon  or  to-mor- 
row, I  will  dine  first,  or  sleep,  or  do  what  reason  or  nature 
calls  for,  as  at  other  times."  This,  in  Gentile  philosophy, 
is  the  same  with  the  discourse  of  St.  Paul,  "  I  have  learn- 


96  OF  CONTExNTEDNESS. 

ed  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content.  I 
know  both  how  to  be  abased,  and  I  know  how  to  abound : 
every  where  and  in  all  things  I  am  instructed  both  how 
to  be  full  and  to  be  hungry ;  both  to  abound  and  to  suffer 
need."* 

We  are  in  the  world,  like  men  playing  at  tables ;  the 
chance  is  not  in  our  power,  but  to  play  it  is ;  and  when  it 
is  fallen,  we  must  manage  it  as  we  can;  and  let  nothing 
trouble  us,  but  when  we  do  a  base  action,  or  speak  like  a 
fool,  or  think  wickedly :  these  things  God  hath  put  into 
our  powers ;  but  concerning  those  things,  which  are 
wholly  in  the  choice  of  another,  they  cannot  fall  under  our 
deliberation,  and  therefore  neither  are  they  fit  for  our  pas- 
sions. My  fear  may  make  me  miserable,  but  it  cannot 
prevent  what  another  hath  in  his  power  and  purpose  :  and 
prosperities  can  only  be  enjoyed  by  them,  who  fear  not  at  all 
to  lose  them ;  since  the  amazement  and  passion  concern- 
ing the  future  takes  off  all  the  pleasure  of  the  present  pos- 
session. Therefore,  if  thou  hast  lost  thy  land,  do  not  also 
lose  thy  constancy  :  and  if  thou  must  die  a  little  sooner,  yet 
do  not  die  impatiently.  For  no  chance  is  evil  to  him  that 
is  content,  and  to  a  man  nothing  is  miserable,  unless  it  be 
unreasonable.  No  man  can  make  another  man  to  be  his 
slave,  unless  he  hath  first  enslaved  himself  to  life  and  death, 
to  pleasure  or  pain,  to  hope  or  fear :  command  these  pas- 
sions, and  you  are  freer  than  the  Parthian  kings. 

Instruments  or  Exercises  to  procure  Contentedness. 

Upon  the  strength  of  these  premises  we  may  reduce  this 
virtue  to  practice  by  its  proper  instruments  first,  and  then 
by  some  more  special  considerations  or  arguments  of  con- 
tent. 

1.  When  any  thing  happens  to  our  displeasure,  let  us 
endeavour  to  take  off  its  trouble  by  turning  it  into  spiritual 
or  artificial  advantage,  and  handle  it  on  that  side,  in  which 
it  may  be  useful  to  the  designs  of  reason.  For  there  is 
nothing  but  hath  a  double  handle,  or  at  least  we  have  two 
hands  to  apprehend  it.  When  an  enemy  reproaches  us, 
let  us  look  on  him  as  an  impartial  relator  of  our  faults,  for 
he  will  tell  thee  truer  than  thy  fondest  friend  will ;  and 
thou  mayest  call  them  precious  balms,  though  they  break 
thy  head,  and  forgive  his  anger,  while  thou  makest  use  of 
*  Phil.  iv.  11, 12.    1  Tim.  vi.  6.   Heb.  xiii.  5. 


OF  CONTENTKDNESS.  97 

the  plarrtness  of  his  {leclumation.  "  The  ox,  when  he  is 
weary,  treads  surest :"  and  if  there  be  nothing-  else  in  the 
disgrace,  but  that  it  makes  us  to  walk  warily,  and  tread  sure 
for  fear  of  our  enemies,  that  is  better  than  to  be  flattered 
into  pride  and  carelessness.  This  is  the  charity  of  Chris- 
tian philosophy,  which  expounds  the  sense  of  the  Divine 
providence  fairly,  and  reconciles  us  to  it  by  a  charitable  con- 
struction :  and  we  may  as  well  refuse  all  physic,  if  we  con- 
sider it  only  as  unpleasant  in  the  taste  ;  and  we  may  find 
fault  with  the  rich  valleys  of  Thasus,  because  they  are  cir- 
cled by  sharp  mountains;  but  so  also  we  may  be  in  charity 
with  every  unpleasant  accident,  because,  though  it  taste  bit- 
ter, it  is  intended  for  health  and  medicine. 

If  therefore  thou  fallest  from  thy  employment  in  public, 
take  sanctuary  in  an  honest  retirement,  being  indifferent 
to  thy  gain  abroad,  or  thy  safety  at  home.  If  thou  art  out 
of  favour  with  thy  prince,  secure  the  favour  of  the  King  of 
kings,  and  then  there  is  no  harm  come  to  thee.  And  when 
Zeno  Citiensis  lost  all  his  goods  in  a  storm,  he  retired  to 
the  studies  of  philosophy,  to  his  short  cloak,  and  a  severe 
life,  and  gave  thanks  to  fortune  for  his  prosperous  mis- 
chance. When  the  north  wind  blows  hard,  and  it  rains 
sadly,  none  but  fools  sit  down  in  it  and  cry;  wise  people 
defend  themselves  against  it  with  a  warm  garment,  or  a 
good  fire  and  a  dry  roof.  When  a  storm  of  a  sad  mis- 
chance beats  upon  our  spirits,  turn  it  into  sorrie  advantage, 
by  observing  where  it  can  serve  another  end,  either  of  re- 
ligion or  prudence,  or  more  safety  or  less  envy  :  it  will 
turn  into  something  that  is  good,  if  we  list  to  make  it  so ; 
at  least  it  may  make  us  weary  of  the  world's  vanity,  and 
take  off  our  confidence  from  uncertain  riches,  and  make 
our  spirits  to  dwell  in  those  regions,  where  content  dwells 
essentially.  If  it  does  any  good  to  our  souls,  it  hath  made 
more  than  sufiicient  recompense  for  all  the  temporal  af- 
fliction. He  that  threw  a  stone  at  a  dog,  and  hit  his  cruel 
step-mother,  said,  that  although  he  intended  it  otherwise, 
yet  the  stone  was  not  quite  lost ;  and  if  we  fail  in  the  first 
design,  if  we  bring  it  home  to  another  equally  to  content 
us,  or  more  to  profit  us,  then  we  have  put  our  conditions 
past  the  power  of  chance  ;  and  this  was  called,  in  the  old 
Greek  comedy,  "  a  being  revenged  on  fortune  by  becom- 
ing philosophers,"  and  turning  the  chance  into  reason  or 
religion :  for  so  a  wise  man  shall  overrule  his  stars,  and 
L 


gg  OF  CONTENTEDNESS. 

have  a  greater  influence  upon  his  own  content,  than  all  the 
constellations  and  planets  of  the  firmament. 

2.  Never  compare  thy  condition  with  those  above  thee ; 
but,  to  secure  thy  content,  look  upon  those  thousands,  with 
whom  thou  wouldest  not,  for  any  interest,  change  thy  for- 
tune and  condition.  A  soldier  must  not  think  himself  un- 
prosperous,  if  he  be  not  successful  as  the  son  of  Philip,  or 
cannot  grasp  a  fortune  as  big  as  the  Roman  empire.  Be 
content,  that  thou  art  not  lessened  as  was  Pyrrhus ;  or  if 
thou  beest,  that  thou  art  not  routed  like  Crassus :  and 
when  that  comes  to  thee,  it  is  a  great  prosperity,  that  thou 
art  not  caged  and  made  a  spectacle,  like  Bajazet,  or  thy 
eyes  were  not  pulled  out,  like  Zedekiah's,  or  that  thou 
wert  not  flayed  alive,  like  Valentinian.  If  thou  admirest 
the  greatness* of  Xerxes,  look  also  on  those,  that  digged 
the  mountain  Atho,  or  whose  ears  and  noses  were  cut  off, 
because  the  Hellespont  carried  away  the  bridge.  It  is  a 
fine  thing  (thou  thinkest)  to  be  carried  on  men's  shoulders; 
but  give  God  thanks,  that  thou  art  not  forced  to  carry  a 
rich  fool  upon  thy  shoulders,  as  those  poor  men  do,  whom 
thou  beholdest.  There  are  but  a  few  kings  in  mankind;  but 
many  thousands  who  are  very  miserable,  if  compared  to  thee. 
However,  it  is  a  huge  folly  rather  to  grieve  for  the  good  of 
others,  than  to  rejoice  for  that  good,  which  God  hath  given 
us  of  our  own. 

And  yet  there  is  no  wise  or  good  man,  that  would  change 
persons  or  conditions  entirely  with  any  man  in  the  world. 
It  may  be,  he  would  have  one  man's  wealth  added  to  him- 
self, or  the  power  of  a  second,  or  the  learning,  of  a  third  ; 
but  still  he  would  receive  these  into  his  own  person,  be- 
cause he  loves  that  best,  and  therefore  esteems  it  best,  and 
therefore  overvalues  all  that  which  he  is,  before  all  that 
which  any  other  man  in  the  world  can  be.  Would  any 
man  be  Dives,  to  have  his  wealth,  or  Judas  for  his  office, 
or  Saul  for  his  kingdom,  or  Absalom  for  his  bounty,  or 
Achitophel  for  his  policy?  It  is  likely  he  would  wish  all 
these,  and  yet  he  would  be  the  same  person  still.  For 
every  man  hath  desires  of  his  own,  and  objects  just  fitted 
to  them,  without  which  he  cannot  be,  unless  he  were  not 
himself.  And  let  every  man,  that  loves  himself  so  well  as 
to  love  himself  before  all  the  world,  consider,  if  he  have 
not  something,  for  which  in  the  whole  he  values  himself 
far  more  than  he  can  value  any  man  else.     There  is  there- 


OF  CONTENTEDNESS.  99 

fore  no  reason  to  take  tlie  finest  featliers  from  all  the 
winged  nation  to  deck  that  bird,  that  thinks  already  she  is 
more  valuable  than  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  air. 
Either  change  all  or  none.  Cease  to  love  yourself  best, 
or  be  content  with  that  portion  of  being  and  blessing,  for 
which  you  love  yourself  so  well. 

3.  It  conduces  much  to  our  content,  if  we  pass  by  those 
things,  which  happen  to  our  trouble,  and  consider  that 
which  is  pleasing  and  prosperous,  that  by  the  represent- 
ation of  the  better,  the  worse  may  be  blotted  out :  and,  at 
the  worst,  you  have  enough  to  keep  you  alive,  and  to  keep 
up  and  to  improve  your  hopes  of  heaven.  If  I  be  overthrown 
in  my  suit  at  law,  yet  my  house  is  left  me  still,  and  my  land  ; 
or  I  have  a  virtuous  wife,  or  hopeful  children,  or  kind  friends, 
or  good  hopes.  If  I  have  lost  one  child,  it  riiay  be  I  have 
two  or  three  still  left  me.  Or  else  reckon  the  blessings, 
which  already  you  have  received,  and  therefore  be  pleased, 
in  the  change  and  variety  of  affairs,  to  receive  evil  from  the 
hand  of  God  as  well  as  good.  Antipater  of  Tarsus  used 
this  art  to  support  his  sorrows  on  his  death-bed,  and 
reckoned  the  good  things  of  his  past  life,  not  forgetting  to 
recount  it  as  a  blessing,  an  argument  that  God  took  care 
of  him,  that  he  had  a  prosperous  journey  from  Cecilia  to 
Athens.  Or  else  please  thyself  with  hopes  of  the  future : 
for  we  were  born  with  this  sadndss  upon  us ;  and  it  was  a 
change  that  brought  us  into  it,  and  a  change  may  bring 
us  out  again.  Harvest  will  come,  and  then  every  farmer 
is  rich,  at  least  for  a  month  or  two.  It  may  be  thou  art 
entered  into  the  cloud,  which  will  bring  a  gentle  shower 
to  refresh  thy  sorrows. 

Now  suppose  thyself  in  as  great  a  sadness  as  ever  did 
load  thy  spirit,  wouldst  thou  not  bear  it  cheerfully  and 
nobly,  if  thou  wert  sure  that  within  a  certain  space  some 
strange  excellent  fortune  would  relieve  thee,  and  enrich 
thee,  and  recompense  thee,  so  as  to  overflow  all  thy  hopes 
and  thy  desires  and  capacities  ?  Now  then,  when  a  sad- 
ness lies  heavy  upon  thee,  remember  that  thou  art  a 
Christian  designed  to  the  inheritance  of  Jesus :  and  what 
dost  thou  think  concerning  thy  great  fortune,  thy  lot,  and 
portion  of  eternity  ?  Dost  thou  think,  thou  shalt  be  saved  or 
damned  ?  Indeed  if  thou  thinkest  thou  shalt  perish,  I  cannot 
blame  thee  to  be  sad,  sad  till  thy  heart-strings  crack:  but 
then  why  art  thou  troubled  at  the  loss  of  thy  money  1  What 


100  OF  CONTENTEDNESS. 

should  a  damned  man  do  with  money,  which  in  so  great  a 
sadness  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  enjoy  ?  Did  ever  any 
man  upon  the  rack  afflict  himself  because  he  had  received 
a  cross  answer  from  his  mistress  1  or  call  for  the  particu- 
lars of  a  purchase  upon  the  gallows  ?  If  thou  dost  really 
believe  thou  shalt  be  damned,  I  do  not  say,  it  will  cure 
the  sadness  of  thy  poverty,  but  it  will  swallow  it  up.  But 
if  thou  believest  thou  shalt  be  saved,  consider,  how  great 
is  that  joy,  how  infinite  is  that  change,  how  unspeakable  is 
the  glory,  how  excellent  is  the  recompense,  for  all  the  suf- 
ferings in  the  world,  if  they  were  all  laden  upon  the  spirit? 
So  that,  let  thy  condition  be  what  it  will,  if  thou  considerest 
thy  own  present  condition,  and  comparest  it  to  thy  future 
possibility,  thou  canst  not  feel  the  present  smart  of  a  cross 
fortune  to  any  great  degree,  either  because  thou  hast  a  far 
bigger  sorrow,  or  a  far  bigger  joy.  Here  thou  art  but  a 
stranger  travelling  to  thy  country,  where  the  glories  of  a 
kingdom  are  prepared  for  thee  ;  it  is  therefore  a  huge  folly 
to  be  much  afflicted,  because  thou  hast  a  less  convenient 
inn  to  lodge  in  by  the  way. 

But  these  arts  of  looking  backwards  and  forwards  are 
more  than  enough  to  support  the  spirit  of  a  Christian ; 
there  is  no  man,  but  hath  blessings  enough  in  present  pos- 
session to  outweigh  the  evils  of  great  affliction.  Tell  the 
joints  of  thy  body,  and  do  not  accuse  the  universal  Provi- 
dence for  a  lame  leg,  or  the  want  of  a  finger,  when  all  the 
rest  is  perfect,  and  you  have  a  noble  soul,  a  particle  of  di- 
vinity, the  image  of  God  himself;  and,  by  the  want  of  a 
finger,  you  may  the  better  know  how  to  estimate  the  re- 
maining parts,  and  to  account  for  every  degree  of  the  sur- 
viving blessings.  Aristippus,  in  a  great  suit  at  law,  lost  a 
farm,  and  to  a  gentleman,  who  in  civility  pitied  and  deplored 
his  loss,  he  answered,"  I  have  two  farms  left  still,  and  that 
is  more  than  I  have  lost,  and  more  than  you  have  by  one." 
If  vou  miss  an  office,  for  which  you  stood  candidate,  then, 
besides  that  you  are  quit  of  the  cares  and  the  envy  of  it, 
vou  still  have  all  those  excellencies,  which  rendered  you 
capable  to  receive  it,  and  they  are  better  than  the  best 
office  in  the  commonwealth.  If  your  estate  be  lessened, 
you  need  the  less  to  care  who  governs  the  province,  whe- 
ther he  be  rude  or  gentle.  I  am  crossed  in  my  journey, 
and  yet  I  escape  robbers;  and  I  consider,  thn.t  if  I  had 
been  set  upon  by  villains,  I  would  have  redeemed  that  evil 


OF  CONTENTEDNESS.  101 

by  this  which  I  now  suffer,  and  have  counted  it  a  deliver 
ance  :  or  if  I  did  fall  into  the  hands  of  thieves,  yet  they 
did  not  steal  my  land.  Or,  I  am  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
publicans  and  sequestrators,  and  they  have  taken  all  from 
me :  what  now  ?  let  me  look  about  rae.  They  have  left 
me  the  sun  and  moon,  fire  and  water,  a  loving  wife,  and 
many  friends  to  pity  me,  -and  some  to  relieve  me,  and  I  can 
still  discourse ;  and,  unless  I  list,  they  have  not  taken 
away  my  merry  countenance,  and  my  cheerful  spirit,  and 
a  good  conscience  :  they  still  have  left  me  the  providence 
of  God,  and  all  the  promises  of  the  gospel,  and  my  reli- 
gion, and  my  hopes  of  heaven,  and  my  charity  to  them  too; 
and  still  I  sleep  and  digest,  I  eat  and  drink,  I  read  and 
meditate,  I  can  walk  in  my  neighbour's  pleasant  fields,  and 
see  the  varieties  of  natural  beauties,  and  delight  in  all  that 
in  which  God  delights,  that  is,  in  virtue  and  wisdom,  in  the 
whole  creation,  and  in  God  himself.  And  he  that  hath  so 
many  causes  of  joy,  and  so  great,  is  very  much  in  love  with 
sorrow  and  peevishness,  who  loses  all  these  pleasures,  and 
chooses  to  sit  down  upon  his  little  handful  of  thorns.  Such 
a  person  were  fit  to  bear  Nero  company  in  his  funeral  sor- 
row for  the  loss  of  one  of  Poppea's  hairs,  or  help  to  mourn 
for  Lesbia's  sparrow  :  and  because  he  loves  it,  he  deserves 
to  starve  in  the  midst  of  plenty,  and  to  want  comfort,  while 
he  is  encircled  with  blessings. 

4.  Enjoy  the  present,  whatsoever  it  be,  and  be  not  soli- 
citous for  the  future  :  for  if  you  take  your  foot  from  the 
present  standing,  and  thrust  it  forward  towards  to-mor- 
row's event,  j'ou  are  in  a  restless  condition  :  it  is  like  re- 
fusing to  quench  your  present  thirst,  by  fearing  you  shall 
want  drink  the  next  day.  If  it  be  well  to-day,  it  is  mad- 
ness to  make  the  present  miserable,  by  fearing  it  may  be 
ill  to-morrow ;  when  your  belly  is  full  of  to-day's  dinner, 
to  fear  you  shall  w^ant  the  next  day's  supper  :  for  it  may  be 
you  shall  not,  and  then  to  what  purpose  was  this  day's  af- 
fliction? But  if  to-morrow  you  shall  want,  your  sorrow 
will  come  time  enough,  though  you  do  not  hasten  it :  let 
your  trouble  tarry,  till  its  own  day  comes.  But  if  it  chance 
to  be  ill  to-day,  do  not  increase  it  by  the  care  of  to-morrow. 
Enjoy  the  blessings  of  this  day,  if  God  sends  them,  arnl 
the  evils  of  it  bear  patiently  and  sweetly;  for  this  day  is 
only  ours ;  we  are  dead  to  yesterday,  and  we  are  not  yet 
born  to  the  morrow.  He,  therefore,  that  enjoys  the  pre- 
l2 


102  OF  CONTENTEDNESS. 

sent,  if  it  be  good,  enjoys  as  much  as  is  possible  ;  and  if  only 
that  day's  trouble  leans  upon  him,  it  is  singular  and  finite. 
"  Sufficient  to  the  day  (said  Christ)  is  the  evil  thereof;" 
sufficient,  but  not  intolerable.  But  if  we  look  abroad, 
and  bring  into  one  day's  thoughts  the  evil  of  many,  certain 
and  uncertain,  what  will  be,  and  what  will  never  be,  our 
load  will  be  as  intolerable  as  it  -is  unreasonable.  To  re- 
prove this  instrument  of  discontent,  the  ancients  feigned 
that  in  hell  stood  a  man  twisting  a  rope  of  hay  ;  and  still 
he  twisted  on,  suffering  an  ass  to  eat  up  all  that  was 
finished  :  so  miserable  is  he,  who  thrusts  his  passions  for- 
wards towards  future  events,  and  suffers  all,  that  he  may 
enjoy,  to  be  lost  and  devoured  by  folly  and  inconsideration, 
thinking  nothing  fit  to  be  enjoyed,  but  that  which  is  not,  or 
cannot  be  had.  Just  so,  many  young  persons  are  loath  to 
die,  and  therefore  desire  to  live  to  old  age;  and  when  they 
are  come  thither,  are  troubled,  that  they  are  come  to  that 
state  of  life,  to  which,  before  they  were  come,  they  were 
hugely  afraid  they  should  never  come. 

5.  Let  us  prepare  our  minds  against  changes,  always  ex- 
pecting them,  that  we  be  not  surprised  when  they  come  ; 
for  nothing  is  so  great  an  enemy  to  tranquillity  and  a  con- 
tented spirit,  as  the  amazement  and  confusions  of  unreadi- 
ness and  inconsideration ;  and  when  our  fortunes  are  vio- 
lently changed,  our  spirits  are  unchanged,  if  they  always 
stood  in  the  suburbs  and  expectation  of  sorrows.  "  O 
death,  how  bitter  art  thou  to  a  man,  that  is  at  rest  in  his 
possessions  !"  And  to  the  rich  man,  who  had  promised  to 
himself  ease  and  fulness  for  many  years,  it  was  a  sad  arrest 
that  his  soul  was  surprised  the  first  night ;  but  the  apos- 
tles, who  every  day  knocked  at  the  gate  of  death,  and 
looked  upon  it  continually,  went  to  their  martyrdom  in 
peace  and  evenness. 

6.  Let  us  often  frame  to  ourselves,  and  represent  to  our 
considerations,  the  images  of  those  blessings  we  have,  just 
as  we  usually  understand  them,  when  we  want  them.  Con- 
sider how  desirable  health  is  to  a  sick  man,  or  liberty  to  a 
prisoner ;  and  if  but  a  fit  of  the  tooth-ache  seizes  us  with 
violence,  all  those  troubles,  which  in  our  health  afflicted  us, 
disband  instantly,  and  seem  inconsiderable.  He  that  is  in 
his  health  is  troubled  that  he  is  in  debt,  and  spends  sleepless 
nights,  and  refuses  meat  because  of  his  infelicity,  let  him 

^fall  into  a  fit  of  the  stone  or  a  high  fever,  he  despises  the 


OF  CONTENTEDJ^ESS.  103 

arrest  of  all  his  first  troubles,  and  is  as  a  man  unconcerned. 
Remember  then,  that  God  hath  given  thee  a  blessing,  the 
want  of  which  is  infinitely  more  trouble  than  thy  present 
debt  or  poverty  or  loss ;  and  therefore  is  now  more  to  be 
valued  in  the  possession,  and  ought  to  outweigh  thy  trou- 
ble. The  very  privative  blessings,  the  blessings  of  immu- 
nity, safeguard,  liberty,  and  integrity,  which  we  commonly 
enjoy,  deserve  the  thanksgiving  of  a  whole  life.  If  God 
should  send  a  cancer  upon  thy  face,  or  a  wolf  into  thy 
side,  if  he  should  spread  a  crust  of  leprosy  upon  thy  skin, 
what  wouldst  thou  give  to  be  but  as  now  thou  art? 
Wouldst  thou  not,  on  that  condition,  be  as  poor  as  I  am, 
or  as  the  meanest  of  thy  brethren?  Would  you  not  choose 
your  present  loss  or  affliction  as  a  thing  extremely  eligible, 
and  a  redemption  to  thee,  if  thou  mightest  exchange  the 
other  for  this  ?  Thou  art  quit  from  a  thousand  calamities, 
every  one  of  which,  if  it  were  upon  thee,  would  make  thee 
insensible  of  thy  present  sorrow;  and  therefore  let  thy 
joy  (which  should  be  as  great  for  thy  freedom  from  them, 
as  is  thy  sadness  when  thou  feelest  any  of  them)  do  the 
same  cure  upon  thy  discontent.  For  if  we  be  not  extremely 
foolish  or  vain,  thankless  or  senseless,  a  great  joy  is  more 
apt  to  cure  sorrow  and  discontent  than  a  great  trouble  is. 
I  have  known  an  affectionate  wife,  when  she  had  been  in 
fear  of  parting  with  her  beloved  husband,  heartily  desire 
of  God  his  life  or  society  upon  any  conditions  that  were 
not  sinful ;  and  choose  to  beg  with  him  rather  than  to  feast 
without  him  :  and  the  same  person  hath,  upon  that  con- 
sideration, borne  poverty  nobly,  when  God  hath  heard  her 
prayer  in  the  other  matter.  What  wise  man  in  the  world 
is  there  who  does  not  prefer  a  small  fortune  with  peace, 
before  a  great  one  with  contention,  and  war,  and  violence  ? 
And  then  he  is  no  longer  wise,  if  he  alters  his  opinion  when 
he  hath  his  wish. 

7.  If  you  will  secure  a  contented  spirit,  you  must  mea- 
sure your  desires  by  your  fortune  and  condition,  not  your 
fortunes  by  your  desires;  that  is,  be  governed  by  your 
needs,  not  by  your  fancy ;  by  nature,  not  by  evil  customs 
and  ambitious  principles.  He  that  would  shoot  an  arrow 
out  of  a  plough,  or  hunt  a  hare  with  an  elephant,  is  not  un- 
fortunate for  missing  the  mark  or  prey ;  but  he  is  foolish 
for  choosing  such  unapt  instruments  ;  and  so  is  he,  that  runs 
after  his  content  with  appetites  not  springing  from  natural 


104  OF  CONTENTEDNESS. 

needs,  but  from  artificial,  fantastical,  and  violent  necessi- 
ties. These  are  not  to  be  satisfied  ;  or,  if  they  were,  a  man 
hath  chosen  an  evil  instrument  towards  his  content ;  na- 
ture did  not  intend  rest  to  a  man  by  filling  of  such  desires. 
Is  that  beast  better,  that  hath  two  or  three  mountains  to 
graze  on,  than  a  little  bee  that  feeds  on  dew  or  manna,  and 
lives  upon  what  falls  every  morning  from  the  storehouses 
of  heaven,  clouds  and  Providence  ?  Can  a  man  quench  his 
thirst  better  out  of  a  river  than  a  full  urn,  or  drink  better 
from  the  fountain,  when  it  is  finely  paved  with  marble, 
than  when  it  swells  over  the  green  turf?  Pride  and  arti- 
ficial gluttonies  do  but  adulterate  nature,  making  our  diet 
healthless,  our  appetites  impatient  and  unsatisfiable,  and 
the  taste  mixed,  fantastic,  and  meretricious.  But  that 
which  we  miscall  poverty,  is  indeed  nature  ;  and  its  pro- 
portions are  the  just  measures  of  a  man,  and  the  best  in- 
struments of  content.  But  when  we  create  needs  that  God 
or  nature  never  made,  we  have  erected  to  ourselves  an  in- 
finite stock  of  trouble,  that  can  have  no  period.  Sempro- 
nius  complained  of  want  of  clothes,  and  was  much  trou- 
bled for  a  new  suit,  being  ashamed  to  appear  in,  the  thea- 
tre with  his  gown  a  little  threadbare  ;  but  when  he  got  it, 
and  gave  his  old  clothes  to  Codrus,  the  poor  man  was  ra- 
vished with  joy,  and  went  and  gave  God  thanks  for  his 
new  purchase  ;  and  Codrus  was  made  richly  fine  and  cheer- 
fully warm  by  that  which  Sempronius  was  ashamed  to 
wear  ;  and  yet  their  natural  needs  were  both  alike  ;  the 
difference  only  was,  that  Sempronius  had  some  artificial 
and  fantastical  necessities  superinduced,  which  Codrus  had 
not :  and  was  harder  to  be  relieved,  and  could  not  have 
joy  at  so  cheap  a  rate  ;  because  he  only  lived  according 
to  nature,  the  other  by  pride  and  ill  customs,  and  measures 
taken  by  other  men's  eyes  and  tongues,  and  artificial  needs. 
He  that  propounds  to  his  fancy  things  greater  than  himself 
or  his  needs,  and  is  discontent  and  troubled,  when  he  fails 
of  such  purchases,  ought  not  to  accuse  Providence,  or  blame 
his  fortune,  but  his  folly.  God  and  nature*  made  no  more 
needs  than  they  mean  to  satisfy ;  and  he  that  will  make  more, 
must  look  for  satisfaction  when  he  can. 

8.  In  all  troubles  and  sadder  accidents  let  us  take  sanc- 
tuary in  religion,  and  by  innocence  cast  out  anchors  for 
our  souls  to  keep  them  from  shipwreck,  though  they  be  not 
kept  from  storm.     For  what  philosophy   shall  comfort  a 


OF  CONTENTEDNESS.  105 

villain  that  is  haled  to  the  rack  for  murdering  his  prince,  or 
that  is  broken  upon  the  wheel  for  sacrilege?  His  cup  is  full 
of  pure  and  unniingled  sorrow :  his  body  is  rent  with  tor- 
ments, his  name  with  ignominy,  his  soul  with  shame  and  sor- 
row, which  are  to  last  eternally.  But  when  a  man  suffers  in 
a  good  cause,  or  is  afllicted,  and  yet  walks  not  perversely 
with  his  God,  then  "  Anytus  and  iMelitus  may  kill  me,  but 
they  cannot  hurt  me  ;"  then  St.  Paul's  character  is  engraven 
in  the  forehead  of  our  fortune^"^  "  We  are  troubled  on  every 
side,  but  not  distressed  ;  perplexed,  but  not  in  des])air ;  per- 
secuted, but  not  forsaken ;  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed. 
And  who  is  he  that  will  harm  you,  if  ye  be  followers  of  that 
which  is  good  ?"t  For  indeed  every  thing  in  the  \yorld  is 
indifferent  but  sin ;  and  all  the  scorchings  of  the  sun  are 
very  tolerable  in  respect  of  the  burnings  of  a  fever  or  a  ca- 
lenture. The  greatest  evils  are  from  within  us :  and  from 
ourselves  also  we  must  look  for  our  greatest  good;  for 
God  is  the  fountain  of  it,  but  reaches  it  to  us  by  our  own 
hands ;  and  when  all  things  look  sadly  around  about  us, 
then  only  we  shall  find,  how  excellent  a  fortune  it  is  to 
have  God  to  our  friend  ;  and  of  all  friendships,  that  only 
is  created  to  support  us  in  our  needs.  For  it  is  sin  that 
turns  an  ague  into  a  fever,  and  a  fever  to  the  plague,  fear 
into  despair,  anger  into  rage,  and  loss  into  madness,  and 
sorrow  to  amazement  and  confusion;  but  if  either  we  were 
innocent,  or  else,  by  the  sadness,  are  made  penitent,  we 
are  put  to  school,  or  into  the  theatre,  either  to  learn  how, 
or  else  actually  to  combat  for  a  crown ;  the  accident  may 
ser\'e  an  end  of  mercy,  but  is  not  a  messenger  of  wrath. 

Let  us  therefore  be  governed  by  external,  and  present, 
and  seeming  things ;  nor  let  us  make  the  same  judgment 
of  things  that  common  and  weak  understandings  do ;  nor 
make  other  men,  and  they  not  the  wisest,  to  be  judges  of 
■our  felicity,  so  that  we  be  happy  or  miserable,  as  they 
please  to  think  us  :  but  let  reason,  and  experience,  and  re- 
Kgion,  and  hope  relying  upon  the  divine  promises,  be  the 
measure  of  our  judgment.  No  wise  man  did  ever  describe 
felicity  without  virtue;  and  no  good  man  did  ever  think 
virtue  could  depend  upon  the  variety  of  good  or  bad  for- 
tune. It  is  no  evil  to  be  poor,  but  to  be  vicious  and  im- 
patient. 

*  2  Cor.  iv.  8,  9.  1 1  Pet  iu.  13 ;  iv.  15, 16. 


106  OF  CONTENTi:DNESS. 

Means  to  obtain  Content  hij  icay  of  consideration. 

To  these  exercises  and  spiritual  instruments,  if  we  add 
the  following  considerations  concerning  the  nature  and  cir- 
cumstance of  human  chance,  we  may  better  secure  our 
peace.  For  as  to  the  children  who  are  afraid  of  vain 
images,  we  use  to  persuade  confidence  by  making  them  to 
handle  and  look  near  such  things,  that  when,  in  such  a 
familiarity,  they  perceive  them  innocent,  they  may  overcome 
their  fears  :  so  must  timorous,  fantastical,  sad,  and  dis- 
contented persons  be  treated ;  tliey  must  be  made  to  con- 
sider and  on  all  sides  to  look  upon  the  accident,  and  to 
take  all  its  dimensions,  and  consider  its  consequences,  and 
to  behold  the  purpose  of  God,  and  the  common  mistakes 
of  men,  and  their  evil  sentences  they  usually  pass  upon 
them.  For  then  we  shall  perceive,  that,  like  colts  or  un- 
managed  horses,  we  start  at  dead  bones  and  lifeless  blocks, 
things  that  are  inactive  as  they  are  .innocent.  But  if  we 
secure  our  hopes  and  our  fears,  and  make  them  moderate 
and  within  government,  we  may  the  sooner  overcome  the 
evil  of  the  accident;  for  nothing  that  we  feel  is  so  bad  as 
what  we  fear. 

Consider  that  the  universal  providence  of  God  hath 
so  ordered  it,  that  the  good  things  of  nature  and  fortune 
are  divided,  that  we  may  know  how  to  bear  our  own,  and 
relieve  each  other's  wants  and  imperfections.  It  is  not 
for  a  man,  but  for  a  God,  to  have  all  excellencies  and  all 
felicities.  He  supports  my  poverty  with  his  wealth:  I 
counsel  and  instruct  him  with  my  learning  and  experience. 
He  hath  many  friends,  I  many  children ;  he  hath  no  heir, 
I  have  no  inheritance;  and  any  one  great  blessing,  toge- 
ther with  the  common  portions  of  nature  and  necessity,  is 
a  fair  fortune,  if  it  be  but  health  or  strength,  or  the  swift- 
ness of  Ahimaaz.  For  it  is  an  unreasonable  discontent  to 
be  troubled,  that  I  have  not  so  good  cocks  or  dogs  or 
horses  as  my  neighbour,  being  more  troubled  that  I  want 
one  thing  that  I  need  not,  than  thankful  for  having  received 
all  that  i  need.  Nero  had  this  disease,  that  he  was  not  con- 
tent with  the  fortune  of  the  whole  empire,  but  put  the  fiddlers 
to  death  for  being  more  skilful  in  the  trade  than  he  was ;  and 
Dionysius  the  elder  was  so  angry  at  Philoxenus  for  singing, 
and  with  Plato  for  disputing  better  than  he  did,  that  he  sold 
Plato  a  slave  into  iEgina,  and  condemned  the  other  to  the 
quarries. 


OF  CONTENTEDNESS.  107 

This  consideration  is  to  be  enlarged,  by  adding  to  it,  that 
there  are  some  instances  of  fortune  and  a  fair  condition, 
that  cannot  stand  with  some  others  ;  but  if  you  desire 
this,  you  must  lose  that,  and  unless  you  be  content  with 
one,  you  lose  the  comfort  of  both.  If  you  covet  learning, 
you  must  have  leisure  and  a  retired  life  :  if  to  be  a  politi- 
cian, you  must  go  abroad  and  get  experience,  and  do  all 
businesses,  and  keep  all  company,  and  have  no  leisure  at 
all.  If  you  will  be  rich,  you  must  be  frugal :  if  you  will 
be  popular,  you  must  be  bountiful :  if  a  philosopher,  you 
must  despise  riches.  The  Greek  that  designed  to  make 
the  most  exquisite  picture  that  could  be  imagined^  fancied 
the  eye  of  Chione,  and  the  hair  of  Paegnium,  and  Tarsia's 
lip,  Philenium's  chin,  and  the  forehead  of  Delphia,  and  set 
all  these  upon  Milphidippa's  neck,  and  thought  that  he 
should  outdo  both  art  and  nature.  But  when  he  came  to 
view  the  proportions,  he  found,  that  what  was  excellent 
in  Tarsia,  did  not  agree  with  the  other  excellency  of 
Philenium  ;  and  although,  singly,  they  were  rare  pieces, 
yet  in  the  whole  they  made  a  most  ugly  face.  The  dis- 
persed excellencies  and  blessings  of  many  men,  if  given  to 
one,  would  not  make  a  handsome,  but  a  monstrous  fortune. 
Use,  therefore,  that  faculty  which  nature  hath  given*thee, 
and  thy  education  hath  made  actual,  and  thy  calling  hath 
made  a  duty.  But  if  thou  desirest  to  be  a  saint,  refuse 
not  his  persecution  :  if  thou  wouldst  be  famous,  as  Epami- 
nondas  or  Fabricius,  accept  also  of  their  poverty  ;  for  that 
added  lustre  to  their  persons,  and  envy  to  their  fortune,  and 
their  virtue  without  it  could  not  have  been  so  excellent. 
Let  Euphorion  sleep  quietly  with  his  old  rich  wife ;  and  let 
Medius  drink  on  with  Alexander :  and  remember  thou 
canst  not  have  riches  of  the  first,  unless  you  have  the  old 
wife  too  ;  nor  the  favour  which  the  second  had  with  his 
prince,  unless  you  buy  it  at  his  price,  that  is,  lay  thy  sobri- 
ety down  at  first,  and  thy  health  a  little  after;  and  then 
their  condition,  though  it  look  splendidly,  yet  when  you 
handle  it  on  all  sides,  it  will  prick  your  fingers. 

2.  Consider,  how  many  excellent  personages  in  all  ages 
have  suffered  as  great  or  greater  calamities  than  this  which 
now  tempts  thee  to  impatience.  Agis  was  the  most  noble 
of  the  Greeks,  and  yet  his  wife  bore  a  child  by  Alcibiades : 
and  Philip  was  prince  of  Iturcen,  and  yet  his  wife  ran  away 
with  his  brother  Herod  into  Galilee ;  and  certainlv,  in  a 


108  OF  CONTENTEDNESS. 

great  fortune,  that  was  a  great  calamity.  But  these  are 
but  single  instances.  Almost  all  the  ages  of  the  world 
have  noted,  that  their  most  eminent  scholars  were  most 
eminently  poor,  some  by  choice,  but  most  by  chance,  and 
an  inevitable  decree  of  Providence.  And,  in  the  whole 
sex  of  women,  God  hath  decreed  the  sharpest  pains  of 
child-birth,  to  show,  that  there  is  no  state  exempt  from  sor- 
row, and  yet  that  the  weakest  persons  have  strength  more 
than  enough  to  bear  the  greatest  evil:  and  the  greatest 
queens,  and  the  mothers  of  saints  and  apostles,  have  no 
charter  of  exemption  from  this  sad  sentence.  But  the  Lord 
of  men  and  angels  was  also  the  King  of  sufferings  :  and  if 
thy  coarse  robe  trouble  thee,  remember  the  swaddling- 
clothes  of  Jesus  ;  if  thy  bed  be  uneasy,  yet  it  is  not  worse 
than  his  manger ;  and  it  is  no  sadness  to  have  a  thin 
table,  if  thou  callest  to  mind,  that  the  King  of  heaven  and 
earth  was  fed  with  a  little  breastmilk;  and  yet,  besides 
this,  he  suffered  all  the  sorrows  which  we  deserved.  We 
therefore  have  great  reason  to  sit  down  upon  our  own 
hearths,  and  warm  ourselves  at  our  ov/n  fires,  and  feed 
upon  content  at  home  :  for  it  were  a  strange  pride  to  ex- 
pect to  be  more  gently  treated  by  the  divine  Providence, 
than  fhe  best  and  wisest  men,  than  apostles  and  saints, 
nay,  the  Son  of  the  eternal  God,  the  heir  of  both  the 
worlds. 

This  consideration  may  be  enlarged,  by  surveying  all 
the  states  and  families  of  the  w^orld ;  and  he  that  at  once 
saw  iEgina  and  Megara,  Pyraeus  and  Corinth,  lie  gasping 
in  their  ruins,  and  almost  buried  in  their  own  heaps,  had 
reason  to  blame  Cicero  for  mourning  impatiently  the  death 
of  one  woman.  In  the  most  beauteous  and  splendid  for- 
tune, there  are  many  cares  and  proper  interruptions  and 
allays :  in  the  fortune  of  a  prince  there  is  not  the  coarse 
robe  of  beggary  ;  but  there  are  infinite  cares  ;  and  the 
judge  sits  upon  the  tribunal  with  great  ceremony  and  os- 
tentation of  fortune,  and  yet,  at  his  house,  or  in  his  breast, 
there  is  something  that  causes  him  to  sigh  deeply.  Pitta- 
cus  was  a  wise  and  valiant  man,  but  his  wife  overthrew  the 
table  when  he  had  invited  his  friends  ;  upon  which  the 
good  man,  to  excuse  her  incivility  and  his  own  misfortune, 
said, "  That  every  man  had  one  evil,  and  he  was  most  hap- 
py that  had  but  that  alone."  And  if  nothing  else  happens, 
yet  sicknesses  so  often  do  imbitter  the  fortune  and  con- 


OF  CONTENTEDNESS.  109 

tent  of  a  family,  that  a  physician,  in  a  few  years,  and  with 
the  practice  upt)n  a  very  few  families,  gets  experience 
enouirh  to  adiniuister  to  almost  all  diseases.  And  when 
thy  little  misrortunc  troubles  thee,  remember  that  thou  hast 
known  the  best  of  kings  and  the  best  of  men  put  to  death 
publicly  by  his  own  subjects. 

3.  There  are  many  accidents,  which  are  esteemed  great 
calamities,  and  yet  wo  have  reason  enough  to  bear  them 
well  and  unconcernedly ;  for  they  neither  touch  our  bodies 
nor  our  souls :  our  health  and  our  virtue  remain  entire,  our 
life  and  our  reputation.  It  may  be  I  am  slighted,  or  I 
have  received  ill  language  ;  but  my  head  aches  not  for  it, 
neither  hath  it  broke  my  thigh,  nor  taken  away  my  virtue, 
unless  I  lose  my  charity  or  my  patience.  Inquire,  there- 
fore, what  you  are  the  worse,  either  in  your  soul  or  in  your 
body,  for  what  hath  happened  :  for  upon  this  very  stock 
many  evils  will  disappear,  since  the  body  and  the  soul 
make  up  the  Vvhole  man.  And  when  the  daughter  of  Stilpo 
proved  a  wanton,  he  said  it  was  none  of  his  sin,  and  there- 
fore there  was  no  reason  it  should  be  his  misery.  And  if 
an  enemy  hath  taken  all  that  from  a  prince,  whereby  he 
was  a  king;  he  may  refresh  himself  by  considering  all  that 
is  left  him,  whereby  he  is  a  man. 

4.  Consider,  that  sad  accidents  and  a  state  of  affliction, 
is  a  school  of  virtue  :  it  reduces  our  spirits  to  soberness,  and 
our  counsels  to  moderation :  it  corrects  levity,  and  inter- 
rupts the  confidence  of  sinning.  "  It  is  good  for  me  (said 
David)  that  I  have  been  afflicted,  for  thereby  I  have  learned 
thy  law."*  And  "  I  know  (O  Lord)  that  thou  of  very  faith- 
fulness hast  caused  me  to  be  troubled."  For  God,  who,  in 
mercy  and  wisdom,  governs  the  world,  would  never  have 
suffered  so  many  sadnesses,  and  have  sent  them  especially 
to  the  most  virtuous  and  the  wisest  men,  but  that  he  intends 
they  should  be  the  seminary  of  comfort,  the  nursery  of  vir- 
tue, the  exercise  of  wisdom,  the  trial  of  patience,  the  ven- 
turing for  a  crown,  and  the  gate  of  glory. 

5.  Consider,  that  afflictions  are  oftentimes  the  occasions  of 
great  temporal  advantages  ;  and  we  must  not  look  upon  them 
as  they  set  down  heavily  upon  us,  but  as  they  serve  some  of 
God's  ends,  and  the  purposes  of  universal  Providence.  And 
when  a  prince  fights  justly,  and  yet  unprosperously,  if  he 

*  Psal.  cxix.  part  10.  ver.  3. 

M 


110  OF  CO?x"TENT£DNESS. 

could  see  all  those  reasons  for  which  God  had  so  ordered 
it,  he  would  think  it  the  most  reasonable  thing  in  the  world, 
and  that  it  would  be  very  ill  to  have  it  otherwise.  If  a  man 
could  have  opened  one  of  the  pages  of  the  Divine  counsel, 
and  could  have  seen  the  event  of  Joseph's  being  sold  to 
the  merchants  of  Amalek,  he  might,  with  much  reason, 
have  dried  up  the  young  man's  tears :  and  when  God's  pur- 
poses are  opened  in  the  events  of  things,  as  it  was  in  the 
case  of  Joseph,  when  he  sustained  his  father's  family  and 
became  lord  of  Egypt,  then  \ve  see,  what  ill  judgment  we 
made  of  things,  and  tnat  we  were  passionate  as  children,  and 
transported  with  sense  and  mistaken  interest.  The  case  of 
Themistocles  was  almost  like  that  of  Joseph  ;  for  being  ba- 
nished into  Egypt,  he  also  grew  in  favour  with  the  king, 
and  told  his  wife,  "  he  had  been  undone,  unless  he  had  been 
undone."  For  God  esteems  it  one  of  his  glories,  that  he 
brings  good  out  of  evil ;  and  therefore  it  were  but  reason, 
we  should  trust  God  to  govern  his  own  world  as  he  pleases; 
and  that  we  should  patiently  wait  till  the  change  cometh, 
or  the  reason  be  discovered. 

And  this  consideration  is  also  of  great  use  to  them,  who 
envy  at  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked,  and  the  success  of 
persecutors,  and  the  baits  of  fishes,  and  the  bread  of 
dogs.  God  fails  not  to  sow  blessings  in  the  long  furrows, 
which  the  ploughers  plough  upon  the  back  of  the  church : 
and  this  success,  which  troubles  us,  will  be  a  great  glory  to 
God,  and  a  great  benefit  to  his  saints  and  servants,  and  a 
great  ruin  to  the  persecutors,  who  shall  have  but  the  for- 
tune of  Theramenes,  one  of  the  thirty  tyrants  of  Athens, 
who  escaped,  when  his  house  fell  upon  him,  and  was  shortly 
after  put  to  death  with  torments  by  his  colleagues  in  the 
tyranny. 

To  which  also  may  be  added,  that  the  great  evils  which 
happen  to  the  best  and  wisest  men,  are  one  of  the  great 
arguments,  upon  the  strength  of  which  we  can  expect  feli- 
city to  our  souls  and  the  joys  of  another  world.  And  cer- 
tainly they  are  then  very  tolerable  and  eligible,  v.'hen,  with 
so  great  advantages,  they  minister  to  the  faith  and  hope  of 
a  Christian.  But  if  we  consider  what  unspeakable  tortures 
are  provided  for  the  wicked  to  all  eternity,  we  should  not 
be  troubled  to  see  them  prosperous  here,  but  rather  won- 
der, that  their  portion  in  this  life  is  not  bigger,  and  that 


OF  CONTKNTEDNESS.  IH 

ever  they  should  be  sick,  or  crossed,  or  affronted,  or  trou- 
bled with  the  contradiction  and  disease  of  their  own  vices, 
since,  if  they  were  fortunate  beyond  tiicir  own  anibitiort,  it 
could  not  make  them  recompense  for  one  hour's  torment 
in  hell,  which  yet  they  shall  have  for  their  eternal  portion. 

After  all  these  considerations  deriving  from  sense  and 
experience,  grace  and  reason,  there  are  two  remedies  still 
remaining,  and  they  are  necessity  and  time. 

6.  For  it  is  but  reasonable  to  bear  that  accident  patiently 
which  God  sends,  since  impatience  does  but  entangle  us, 
like  the  fluttering  of  a  bird  in  a  net,  but  cannot  at  all  ease 
our  trouble,  or  prevent  tlie  accident :  it  must  be  run 
through,  and  therefore  it  were  better  we  compose  ourselves 
to  a  patient,  than  to  a  troubled  and  miserable  suffering. 

7  But  however,  if  you  will  not  otherwise  be  cured,  time 
at  last  will  do  it  alone  ;  and  then  consider,  do  you  mean 
to  mourn  always,  or  but  for  a  time  ?  If  always,  you  are 
miserable  and  foolish.  If  for  a  time,  then  why  will  you  not 
apply  those  reasons  to  your  grief  at  first,  with  which  you 
will  cure  it  at  last  ?  or  if  you  will  not  cure  it  with  reason, 
see  how  little  of  a  man  there  is  in  you,  that  you  suffer  time 
to  do  more  with  you  than  reason  or  religion !  You  suffer 
yourself  to  be  cured,  just  as  a  beast  or  a  tree  is ;  let 
it  alone,  and  the  thing  will  heal  itself :  but  this  is  neither 
honourable  to  thy  person,  nor  of  reputation  to  thy  religion. 
However,  be  content  to  bear  thy  calamity,  because  thou  art 
sure,  in  a  little  time,  it  will  sit  down  gentle  and  easy :  for 
to  a  mortal  man  no  evil  is  immortal.  And  here  let  the 
worst  thing  happen  that  can,  it  will  end  in  death,  and  we 
commonly  think  that  to  be  near  enough. 

8.  Lastly  :  of  those  things  which  are  reckoned  amongst 
evils,  some  arc  better  than  their  contraries  ;  and  to  a  good 
man,  the  very  worst  is  tolerable. 

Poverty^  or  a  low  Fortune. 
1.  Poverty  is  better  than  riches,  and  a  mean  fortune  to 
be  chosen  before  a  great  and  splendid  one.  It  is  indeed 
despised,  and  makes  men  contemptible :  it  exposes  a  man 
to  the  insolence  of  evil  persons,  and  leaves  a  man  defence- 
less :  it  is  always  suspected  :  its  stories  are  accounted  lies, 
and  all  its  counsels  follies  :  it  puts  a  man  from  all  employ- 
ment ;  it  makes  a  man's  discourses  tedious,  and  his  society 
troublesome.     This  is  the  worst  of  it:  and  yet  all  this,  and 


112  OF  CONTEJSTEDNESS. 

far  worse  than  this,  the  apostles  suffered  for  being-  Chris- 
tians, and  Christianity  itself  may  be  esteemed  an  affliction 
as  well  as  poverty,  if  this  be  all  that  can  be  said  ag-ainst  it ; 
for  the  apostles  and  the  most  eminent  Christians  were 
really  poor,  and  were  used  contemptuously :  and  yet,  that 
poverty  is  despised,  may  be  an  argument  to  commend  it, 
if  it  be  despised  by  none  but  persons  vicious  and  ignorant. 
However,  certain  it  is,  that  a  great  fortune  is  a  great  vanity, 
and  richt^s  is  nothing  but  danger,  trouble,  and  temptation ; 
like  a  garment  that  is  too  long,  and  bears  a  train  ;  not  so 
useful  to  one,  but  it  is  troublesome  totvvo,  to  him  that  bears 
the  one  part  upon  his  shoulders,  and  to  him  that  bears 
the  other  part  in  his  hand.  But  poverty  is  the  sister  of  a 
good  mind,  the  parent  of  sober  counsels,  and  the  nurse  of 
all  virtue. 

For  what  is  it  that  you  admire  in  the  fortune  of  a  great 
king?  Is  it,  that  he  always  goes  in  a  great  company?  You 
may  thrust  yourself  into  the  same  crowd,  or  go  often  to 
church,  and  then  you  have  as  great  a  company  as  he  hath  ; 
and  that  may,  upon  as  good  grounds,  please  you  as  him, 
that  is,  justly  neither  :  for  so  impertinent  and  useless  pomp, 
and  the  other  circumstances  of  his  distance,  are  not  made 
for  him,  but  for  his  subjects,  that  they  may  learn  to  sepa- 
rate him  from  common  usages,  and  be  taught  to  be  go- 
verned. But  if  you  look  upon  them  as  fine  things  in  them- 
selves, you  may  quickly  alter  your  opinion,  when  you  shall 
consider,  that  they  cannot  cure  the  tooth-ache,  nor  make 
one  wise,  or  fill  the  belly,  or  give  one  night's  sleep,  (though 
they  help  to  break  many,)  not  satisfying  any  appetite  of 
nature,  or  reason,  or  religion :  but  they  are  states  of  great- 
ness, which  only  make  it  possible  for  a  man  to  be  made 
extremely  miserable.  And  it  was  long  ago  observed  by  the 
Greek  tragedians,  and  from  them  by  Arianus,  saying,  "  That 
all  our  tragedies  are  of  kings  and  princes,  and  rich  or  ambi- 
tious personages  ;  but  you  never  see  a  poor  man  have  apart, 
unless  it  be  as  a  chorus,  or  to  fill  up  the  scenes,  to  dance 
or  to  be  derided ;  but  the  kings  and  the  great  generals. 
First  (says  he,)  they  begin  with  joy.  crown  the  houses: 
but  about  the  third  or  fourth  act  they  cry  out,  "O  Cithe- 
ron  !  why  didst  thou  spare  my  life  to  reserve  me  for  this 
more  sad  calamity  ?"  And  this  is  really  true  in  the  great 
accidents  of  the,  world:  for  a  great  estate  hath  great 
crosses,  and  a  mean  fortune  hath  but  small  ones.     It  may 


OF  CONTENTEDNESS.  113 

be,  the  poor  man  loses  a  cow  :  for  if  his  cliild  dies,  he  in 
quit  of  his  bi/jfcfcst  care  ;  but  such  an  accident  in  a  rich  and 
splendid  family  doubles  upon  the  spirits  of  the  parents. 
Or,  it  may  be,  the  poor  man  is  troubled  to  pay  his  rent, 
and  that  is  his  biggest  trouble :  but  it  is  a  bigger  care  to 
secure  a  great  fortune  -in  a  troubled  estate,  or  with  equal 
greatness,  or  with  the  circumstances  of  honour,  and  the 
niceness  of  reputation  to  defend  a  lawsuit ;  and  that,  which 
will  secure  a  common  man's  whole  estate,  is  not  enough  to 
defend  a  great  man's  honour. 

And,  therefore,  it  was  not  witliout  mystery  observed 
among  the  ancients,  that  they,  who  made  gods  of  gold  and 
silver,  of  hope  and  fear,  peace  and  fortune,  garlic  and 
onions,  beasts  and  serpents,  and  a  quartan  ague,  yet  never 
deified  money:  meaning,  that  however  wealth  was  admired 
by  common  or  abused  understandings ;  yet  from  riches, 
that  is,  from  that  proportion  of  good  things  which  is  be- 
yond the  necessities  of  nature,  no  moment  could  be  added 
to  a  man's  real  content  or  happiness.  Corn  from  Sardi- 
nia, herds  of  Calabrian  cattle,  meadows  through  which 
pleasant  Liris  glides,  silks  from  Ttrus,  and  golden  chalices 
to  drown  my  health  in,  are  nothing  but  instruments  of  va- 
nity or  sin,  and  suppose  a  disease  in  the  soul  of  him  that 
longs  for  them,  or  admires  them.  And  this  I  have  other- 
where represented  more  largely ;  to  which  I  here  add,  that 
riches  have  very  great  dangers  to  their  souls,  not  only  who 
covet  them,  but  to  all  that  have  them.  For  if  a  great 
personage  undertakes  an  action  passionately,  and  upon 
great  interest,  let  him  manage  it  indiscreetly,  let  the  whole 
design  be  unjust,  let  it  be  acted  with  all  the  malice  and 
impotency  in  the  world,  he  shall  have  enough  to  flatter 
him,  but  not  enough  to  reprove  him.  lie  had  need  be  a 
bold  man,  that  shall  tell  his  patron,  he  is  going  to  hell  ; 
and  that  prinr^e  had  need  be  a  good  man,  that  shall  suflfer 
such  a  monitor ;  and  though  it  be  a  strange  kind  of  civility, 
and  an  evil  dutifulness  in  friends  and  relatives,  to  suffer 
him  to  perish  without  reproof  or  medicine,  rather  than  to 
seem  unmannerly  to  a  great  sinner;  yet  it  is  none  of  their 
least  infelicities,  that  their  wealth  and  greatness  shall  put 
them  into  sin,  and  yet  put  them  past  reproof.  I  need  not 
instance  in  the  habitual  intemperance  of  rich  tables,  nor 
the  evil  accidents  and  effects  of  fulness,  pride  and  lust, 
wantonness  and  softness  of  disposition,  huge  talking  and 
M  2 


114  OF  CONTENTEDNESS. 

an  imperious  spirit,  despite  of  religion  and  contempt  of  poor 
persons ;  at  the  best,  "  it  is  a  great  temptation  for  a  man  to 
have  in  his  power  whatsoever  he  can  have  in  his  sensual 
desires  :"*  and  therefore  riches  is  a  blessing,  like  to  a  pre- 
sent made  of  a  whole  vintage  to  a  man  in  a  hectic  fever; 
he  will  be  much  tempted  to  drink  of  it ;  and  if  he  does,  he 
is  inflamed,  and  may  chance  to  die  with  the  kindness. 

Now  besides  what  hath  been  already  noted  in  the  state 
of  poverty,  there  is  nothing  to  be  accounted  for  but  the 
fear  of  wanting  necessaries ;  of  which  if  a  man  could  be 
secured  that  he  might  live  free  from  care,  all  the  other 
parts  of  it  might  be  reckoned  amongst  the  advantages  of 
wise  and  sober  persons,  rather  than  objections  against  that 
state  of  fortune. 

But  concerning  this  I  consider,  that  there  must  need?, 
be  great  security  to  all  Christians,  since  Christ  not  only 
made  express  promises,  that  we  should  have  sufficient  for 
this  life ;  but  also  took  great  pains  and  used  many  argu- 
ments to  create  confidence  in  us :  and  such  they  were, 
which  by  their  own  strength  were  suflicient,  though  you 
abate  the  authority  of  the  speaker.  The  Son  of  God  told 
us,  his  Father  takes  care  of  us  :  he  that  knew  all  his  Fa- 
ther's counsels  and  his  whole  kindness  towards  mankind, 
told  us  so.  How  gieat  is  that  truth,  how  certain,  how  neces- 
sary, which  Christ  himself  proved  by  arguments  !  The  excel- 
lent  words  and  most  comfortable  sentences,  which  are  our 
bills  of  exchange,  upon  the  credit  of  which  we  lay  our  cares 
down,  and  receive  provisions  for  our  need,  are  these  :  "  Take 
no  thought  for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall 
drink,  nor  yet  for  your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not 
the  life  more  than  meat,  and  the  body  than  raiment  ?  Be- 
hold the  fowls,  of  the  air ;  for  they  sow  not,  neither  do  they 
reap,  nor  gather  into  barns,  yet  your  heavenly  Father 
feedeth  them.  Are  ye  not  much  better  than  they  ?  Which 
of  you,  by  taking  thought,  can  add  one  cubit  to  his  sta- 
ture ?  And  why  take  ye  thought  for  raiment  1  Consider 
the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow.;  they  toil  not,  nei- 
ther do  they  spin  :  and  yet  I  say  unto  you,  that  even  Solo- 
mon in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these. 
Therefore  if  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  which 
to-day  is,  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  he  not 
much  more  clothe  you,  O  ye  of  little  faith?     Therefore 

*  Jam.  ii.  5 — 7. 


OF  COiNTENTEDNESS.  115 

take  no  thought,  saying,  What  shall  we  eat?  or  what 
shall  we  drink?  or  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed?  (for 
after  all  these  things  do  the  Gentiles  seek)  for  your  hea- 
venly Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things. 
But  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.  Take 
therefore  no  thought  for  the  morrow ;  for  the  morrow  shall 
take  thought  for  the  things  of  itself;  sufficient  to  the  day 
is  the  evil  thereof."*  The  same  discourse  is  repeated  by 
St.  Luke  :f  and  accordingly  our  duty  is  urged,  and  our  con- 
fidence abetted,  by  the  disciples  of  our  Lord,  in  divers  places 
of  Holy  Scripture.  So  St.  Paul :  "  Be  careful  for  nothing, 
but  in  every  thing  by  prayer  and  supplication,  with  thanks- 
giving, let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God.":j:  And 
again,  "  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world,  that  they 
be  not  high-minded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but  in  the 
living  God,  who  giveth  us  richly  all  things  to  enjoy. "§  And 
yet  again,  "  Let  your  conversation  be  without  covetousness, 
and  be  content  with  such  things  as  ye  have  ;  for  he  hath 
said,  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake  thee :  so  that  we 
may  boldly  say,  The  Lord  is  my  helper."||  And  all  this  is 
by  St.  Peter  summed  up  in  our  duty,  thus :  "  Cast  all  your 
care  upon  him,  for  he  careth  for  you."  Which  w^ords  he 
seems  to  have  borrowed  out  of  the  fifty-fifth  Psalm,  v.  22, 
where  David  saith  the  same  thing  almost  in  the  same 
words.  To  which  I  only  add  the  observation  made  by  him, 
and  the  argument  of  experience  ;  "  I  have  been  young  and 
now  am  old,  and  yet  saw  I  never  the  righteous  forsaken, 
nor  his  seed  begging  their  bread."  And  now  after  all  this, 
a  fearless  confiilence  in  God,  and  concerning  a  provision  of 
necessaries,  is  so  reasonable,  that  it  is  become  a  duty ;  and 
he  is  scarce  a  Christian,  whose  faith  is  so  little  as  to  be  jea- 
lous of  God,  and  suspicious  concerning  meat  and  clothes ; 
that  man  hath  nothing  in  him  of  the  nobleness  or  confidence 
of  charity. 

Does  not  God  provide  for  all  the  birds,  and  beasts,  and 
fishes  ?  Do  not  the  sparrows  fly  from  their  bush,  and  every 
morning  find  meat,  where  they  laid  it  not?  Do  not  the 
young  ravens  call  to  God,  and  he  feeds  them?  And  were 
it  reasonable,  that  the  sons  of  the  family  should  fear,  the 
Father  would  give  meat  to  the  chickens  and  the  servants, 

*  Matt.  vi.  25,  &c.  t  Luke  xii.  22—31.  J  Phil.  iv.  G. 

$  1  Tim.  vi.  17.  II  Heb.  xiii.  5,  6. 


116  OF  CONTENTEDNESS. 

his  sheep  and  his  dogs,  but  give  none  to  them?  He  were 
a  very  ill  father,  that  should  do  so ;  or  he  were  a  very 
foolish  son,  that  should  think  so  of  a  good  father.  But, 
besides  the  reasonableness  of  this  faith  and  this  hope,  we 
have  infinite  experience  of  it.  How  innocent,  how  care- 
less, how  secure  is  infancy  1.  and  yet  how  certainly  provided  ! 
We  have  lived  at  God's  charges  all  the  days  of  our  life,  and 
have  (as  the  Italian  proverb  says)  set  down  to  meat  at  the 
sound  of  a  bell ;  and  hitherto  he  hath  not  failed  us  :  we  have 
no  reason  to  suspect  him  for  the  future;  we  do  not  use  to 
serve  men  so ;  and  less  time  of  trial  creates  great  confi- 
dences in  us  towards  them,  who  for  twenty  years  together 
never  broke  their  word  with  us ;  and  God  hath  so  ordered 
it,  that  a  man  shall  have  had  the  experience  of  many 
years'  provision,  before  he  shall  understand  how  to  doubt ; 
that  he  may  be  provided  for  an  answer  against  the  tempta- 
tion shall  come,  and  the  mercies  felt  in  his  childhood  may 
make  him  fearless,  wiien  he  is  a  man.  Add  to  this,  that  God 
hath  given  us  his  Holy  Spirit :  he  hath  promised  heaven  to 
us  :  he  hath  given  us  his  Son  ;  and  we  are  taught  from  Scrip- 
ture to  make  this  inference  from  hence,  "  How  should  not 
he  with  him  give  us  all  things  else  7" 

The  Charge  of  many  Children, 

We  have  a  title  to  be  provided  for,  as  we  are  God's 
creatures,  another  title  as  we  are  his  children,  another  be- 
cause God  hath  promised  ;  and  every  of  our  children  hath 
the  same  title  ;  and  therefore  it  is  a  huge  folly  and  infide- 
lity to  be  troubled  and  full  of  care,  because  we  have  many 
children.  Every  child  we  have  to  feed,  is  a  new  revenue, 
a  new  title  to  God's  care  and  providence  :  so  that  many 
children  are  a  great  wealth  :  and  if  it  be  said  they  are 
chargeable,  it  is  no  more  than  all  wealth  and  great  reve- 
nues are.  For  what  difference  is  it?  Titus  keeps  ten 
ploughs,  Cornelia  hath  ten  children  :  he  hath  land  enough 
to  employ  and  to  feed  all  his  hinds  ;  she,  blessings,  and  pro- 
mises, and  the  {provisions  and  the  truth  of  God,  to  main- 
tain all  her  children.  His  hinds  and  horses  eat  up  all  his 
corn,  and  her  children  are  sufficiently  maintained  with 
her  little.  They  bring  in  and  eat  up  ;  and  she  indeed  eats 
up,  but  they  also  bring  in  from  the  store-houses  of  hea- 
ven, and  the  granaries  of  God  ;  and  my  children  are  not 
so  much  mine  as  they  are  God's ;  he  feeds  them  in  the 


OF  CONTENTEDNESS.  •    117 

womb  by  ways  secret  and  iiis€?isiblo  ;  and  would  not  work 
a  perpetual  miracle  to  bring  them  forth,  and  then  to  starve 
them. 

Violent  Necessities. 
But  sonio  men  are  highly  tempted,  and  are  brought  to 
a  strait ;  that,  without  a  miracle,  they  cannot  be  relieved  ; 
what  shall  they  do  ?  It  may  be,  their  pride  or  vanity  hath 
brought  the  necessity  upon  them,  and  it  is  not  a  need  of 
God's  making;  and  if  it  be  not,  they  must  cure  it  them- 
selves, by  lessening  their  desires,  and  moderating  their  ap- 
petites :  and  yet,  if  it  be  innocent,  though  unnecessary, 
God  does  usually  relieve  such  necessities ;  and  he  does 
not  only  upon  our  prayers  grant  us  more  than  he  pro- 
mised of  temporal  things,  but  also  he  gives  many  times 
more  than  we  ask.  This  is  no  object  for  our  faith,  but 
ground  enough  for  a  temporal  and  prudent  hope  ;  and,  if 
we  fail  in  the  particular,  God  will  turn  it  to  a  bigger  mercy, 
if  we  submit  to  his  dispensation,  and  adore  him  in  the  de- 
nial. But  if  it  be  a  matter  of  necessity,  let  not  any  man, 
by  way  of  impatience,  cry  out,  that  God  will  not  work  a 
miracle ;  for  God,. by  miracle,  did  give  meat  and  drink  to 
his  people  in  the  wilderness,  of  which  he  had  made  no  par- 
ticular promise  in  any  covenant :  and  if  all  natural  means 
fail,  it  is  certain,  that  God  will  rather  work  a  miracle  than 
break  his  word  ;  he  can  do  that,  he  cannot  do  this.  Only 
we  must  remember  that  our  portion  of  temporal  things  is 
but  food  and  raiment.  God  hath  not  promised  us  coaches 
and  horses,  rich  houses  and  jewels,  Tyrian  silks  and  Per- 
sian carpets ;  neither  hath  he  promised  to  minister  to  our 
needs  in  such  circumstances  as  we  shall  appoint,  but  such 
as  himself  shall  choose.  God  will  enable  either  thee  to 
pay  thy  debt  (if  thou  beggest  it  of  him,)  or  else  he  will  pay 
it  for  thee  ;  that  is,  take  thy  desire  as  a  discharge  of  thy 
duty,  and  pay  it  to  thy  creditor  in  blessings,  or  in  some  se- 
cret of  his  providence.  It  may  be  he  hath  laid  up  the  corn, 
that  shall  feed  thee,  in  the  granary  of  thy  brother;  or  will 
clothe  thee  with  his  wool.  He  enabled  St.  Peter  to  pay 
his  gabel  by  the  ministry  of  a  fish;  and  Elias  to  be  waited 
on  by  a  crow,  who  was  both  his  minister  and  his  steward 
for  provisions ;  and  his  only  Son  rode  in  triumph  upon  an 
ass,  that  grazed  in  another  man's  pastures.  And  if  God 
gives  to  him  the  dominion,  and  reserves  the  use  to  thee, 
thou  hast  the  better  half  of  the  two :  but  the  charitable 


11 8  -  OF  CONTENTEDNESS. 

man  serves  God  and  serves  thy  need ;  and  both  join  to  pro- 
vide for  thee,  and  God  blesses  both.  But  if  he  takes 
away  the  flesh-pots  from  thee,  he  can  also  alter  the  ap- 
petite, and  he  hath  given  thee  power  and  commandment 
to  restrain  it ;  and  if  he  lessens  the  revenue,  he  will  also 
shrink  the  necessity  ;  or  if  he  gives  but  a  very  little,  he  will 
make  it  go  a  great  way  ;  or  if  he  sends  thee  but  a  coarse 
diet,  he  will  bless  it  and  make  it  healthful,  and  can  cure 
all  the  anguish  of  thy  poverty  by  giving  thee  patience,  and 
the  grace  of  contentedness.  For  the  grace  of  God  secures 
you  of  provisions,  and  yet  the  grace  of  God  feeds  and 
supports  the  spirit  in  the  want  of  provisions  :  and  if  a  thin 
table  be  apt  to  enfeeble  the  spirits  of  one  used  to  feed  bet- 
ter, yet  the  cheerfulness  of  a  spirit,  that  is  blessed,  will 
make  a  thin  table  become  a  delicacy,  if  the  man  was  as 
well  taught  as  he  was  fed,  and  learned  his  duty  when  he 
received  the  blessing.  Poverty,  therefore,  is  in  some 
senses  eligible,  and  to  be  preferred  before  riches ;  but,  in 
all  senses,  it  is  very  tolerable. 

Death  of  Children^  or  neai'est  Relatives  and  Friends. 

There  are  some  persons,  who  have  been  noted  for  ex- 
cellent in  their  lives  and  passions,  rarely  innocent,  and  yet 
hugely  penitent  for  indiscretions  and  harmless  infirmities  ; 
such  as  was  Paulina,  one  of  the  ghostly  children  of  St. 
Jerome;  and  yet  when  any  of  her  children  died,  she  was 
arrested  with  a  sorrow  so  great,  as  brought  her  to  the 
margent  of  her  grave.  And  the  more  tender  our  spirits 
are  made  by  religion,  the  more  easy  we  are  to  let  in  grief, 
if  the  cause  be  innocent,  and  be  but  in  any  sense  twisted 
with  piety  and  due  affections.  To  cure  which,  we  may 
consider,  that  all  the  world  must  die,  and  therefore  to  be 
impatient  at  the  death  of  a  person,  concerning  whom  it 
was  certain  and  known  that  he  must  die,  is  to  mourn,  be- 
cause thy  friend  or  child  was  not  born  an  angel ;  and, 
when  thou  hast  awhile  made  thyself  miserable  by  an  im- 
portunate and  useless  grief,  it  may  be  thou  shalt  die  thy- 
self, and  leave  others  to  their  choice,  whether  they  will 
mourn  for  thee  or  no ;  but,  by  that  time,  it  will  appear, 
how  impertinent  that  grief  was,  M'hich  served  no  end  of 
life,  and  ended  in  thy  own  funeral.  But  what  great  matter 
is  it,  if  sparks  fly  upward,  or  a  stone  falls  into  a  pit ;  if 
that   which  was   combustible    be   burned,  or   that    which 


OF  CONTENTEDNESS.  Hg 

was  liquid  be  melted,  or  that  which  is  mortal  do  die  ?  It 
is  no  more  than  a  man  does  every  day  :  for  every  night 
death  hath  gotten  possession  of  that  day,  and  we  shall  never 
live  tliat  day  over  again  ;  and  when  the  last  day  is  come, 
tlicro  are  no  more  days  left  for  us  to  die.  And  what  is 
slcci)ing  and  waking,  hut  living  and  dying?  what  is  spring 
and  autumn,  youth  and  old  age,  morning  and  evening,  but 
real  images  of  life  and  dcatii,  and  really  the  same  to  many 
considerable  effects  and  changes  ? 

Untimely  Death, 

But  it  is  not  mere  dying,  that  is  pretended  by  some  as 
the  cause  of  their  impatient  mourning;  but  that  the  child 
died  young,  before  he  knew  good  and  evil,  his  right  hand 
from  his  left,  and  so  lost  all  his  portion  of  this  world,  and 
they  know  not  of  what  excellency  his  portion  in  the  next 
shall  be.  If.he  died  young,  he  lost  but  little;  for  he  un- 
derstood but  little,  and  had  not  capacities  of  great  plea- 
sures or  great  cares  :  but  yet  he  died  innocent,  and  before 
the  sweetness  of  his  soul  was  deflowered  and  ravished  from 
him  by  the  flames  and  follies  of  a  froward  age  :  he  went 
out  from  the  dining-room,  before  he  had  fallen  into  error 
by  the  intemperance  oC  his  meat,  or  the  deluge  of  drink  : 
and  he  hath  obtained  this  favour  of  God,  that  his  soul 
hath  suffered  a  less  imprisonment,  and  her  load  was  sooner 
taken  oft',  that  he  might,  with  lesser  delays,  go  and  con- 
verse with  immortal  spirits ;  and  the  babe  is  taken  into 
paradise,  before  he  knows  good  and  evil.  (For  that  know- 
ledge threw  our  great  father  out,  and  this  ignorance  re- 
turns the  child  thither.)  But,  as  concerning  thy  own  par- 
ticular, remove  thy  thoughts  back  to  those  days,  in  which 
thy  child  was  not  born,  and  you  are  now,  but  as  then  you 
were,  and  there  is  no  difference,  but  that  you  had  a  son 
born  ;  and  if  you  reckon  that  for  evil,  you  are  unthankful 
for  the  blessing ;  if  it  be  good,  it  is  better  that  you  had  the 
blessing  for  awhile,  than  not  at  all ;  and  yet,  if  he  had 
never  been  born,  this  sorrow  had  not  been  at  all.  But  be 
no  more  displeased  at  God  for  giving  you  a  blessing  for 
awhile,  than  you  would  have  been  if  he  had  not  given  it  at 
all ;  and  reckon  that  intervening  blessing  for  a  gain,  but 
account  it  not  an  evil ;  and  if  it  be  a  good,  turn  it  not  into 
sorrow  and  sadness.  But  if  we  have  great  reason  to  com- 
plain of  the  calamities  and  evils  of  our  life,  then  we  have 


l:^  OF  CONTENTEBNESS, 

the  less  reason  to  grieve,  that  those,  whom  we  loved,  have 
so  small  a  portion  of  evil  assig^ned  to  them.  And  it  is  no 
small  advantage  that  our  children  dying  young  receive  ; 
for  their  condition  of  a  blessed  immortality  is  rendered  to 
them  secure  by  being  snatched  from  the  dangers  of  an  evil 
choice,  and  carried  to  their  little  cells  of  felicity,  where  they 
can  Vv^eep  no  more.  And  this  the  wisest  of  the  Gentiles 
understood  well,  when  they  forbade  any  offerings  or  liba- 
tions to  be  made  for  dead  infants,  as  was  usual  for  their 
other  dead ;  as  believing  they  were  entered  into  a  secure 
possession,  to  which  they  went  with  no  other  condition, 
but  that  they  passed  into  it  through  the  way  of  mortality, 
and,  for  a  few  months,  wore  an  uneasy  garment.  And  let 
weeping  parents  say,  if  they  do  not  think,  that  the  evils 
their  little  babes  have  suffered  are  sufficient.  If  they  be, 
why  are  they  troubled,  that  they  were  taken  from  those 
many  and  greater,  which,  in  succeeding  years,  are  great 
enough  to  try  all  the  reason  and  religion,  which  art,  and 
nature,  and  the  grace  of  God,  hath  produced  in  us,  to 
enable  us  for  such  sad  contentions?  And,  possibly,  we 
may  doubt  concerning  men  and  women,  but  we  cannot  sus- 
pect, that,  to  infants,  death  can  be  such  an  evil,  but  that  it 
brings  to  them  much  more  good,  than  it  takes  from  them  in 
this  life. 

Death  unseasonable. 
But  others  can  well  bear  the  death  of  infants;  but  when 
they  have  spent  some  years  of  childhood  or  youth,  and  are 
entered  into  arts  and  society,  when  they  are  hopeful  and 
provided  for,  when  the  parents  are  to  reap  the  comfort  of 
all  their  fears  and  cares,  then  it  breaks  the  spirit  to  lose 
them.  This  is  true  in  many  ;  but  this  is  not  love  to  the 
dead,  but  to  themselves ;  for  they  miss,  what  they  had 
flattered  themselves  into  by  hope  and  opinion  :  and  if  it 
were  kindness  to  the  dead,  they  may  consider,  that,  since 
we  hope  he  is  gone  to  God  and  rest,  it  is  an  ill  expression 
of  our  love  to  them,  that  we  weep  for  their  good  fortune. 
For  that  life  is  not  best,  which  is  longest :  and  when  they 
are  descended  into  the  grave,  it  shall  not  be  inquired  how 
long  they  have  lived,  but  how  well ;  and  yet  this  shortening 
of  their  days  is  an  evil  wholly  depending  upon  opijiion. 
For  if  men  did  naturally  live  but  twenty  years,  then  we 
should  be  satisfied,  if  they  died  about  sixteen  or  eighteen  ; 
and  yet  eighteen  years  now  are  as  long,  as  eighteen  years 


OF  CONTENTEDNESS.  121 

would  bo  then  :  and  if  a  man  were  but  of  a  day's  life,  it  is 
well  if  he  lasts  to  cvcn-sorig,  and  then  says  his  coniplino 
an  hour  before  the  time  :  and  we  arc  pleased,  and  call  not 
that  death  immature,  if  he  lives  till  seventy ;  and  yet  this 
age  is  as  short  of  tlic  old  periods  before  and  since  the  flood, 
as  this  youth's  ago  (for  whom  you  mourn)  is  of  the  present 
fulness.  Suppose,  therefore,  a  decree  passed  upon*  this 
person,  (as  there  have  been  many  upon  all  mankind,)  and 
God  hath  set  him  a  shorter  period ;  and  then  we  may  as 
well  bear  the  immature  death  of  the  young  man,  as  the 
death  of  the  oldest  men :  for  also  they  are  immature  and 
unseasonable  in  respect  of  the  old  periods  of  many  gene- 
rations. And  why  are  we  troubled,  that  he  had  arts  and 
sciences  before  he  died?  or  are  Ave  troubled,  that  he  does 
not  live  to  make  use  of  them?  The  first  is  cause  of  joy,  for 
they  are  excellent  in  order  to  certain  ends ;  and  the  second 
cannot  be  cause  of  sorrow,  because  he  hath  no  need  to  use 
them,  as  the  case  now  stands,  being  provided  for  with  the 
provisions  of  an  angel,  and  the  manner  of  eternity.  How- 
ever, the  sons  and  the  parents,  friends  and  relatives,  are  in 
the  world,  like  hours  and  minutes  to  a  day.  The  hour 
comes,  and  must  pass  ;  and  some  stay  but  minutes,  and 
they  also  pass,  and  shall  never  return  again.  But  let  it  be 
considered,  that  from  the  time  in  which  a  man  is  conceived, 
from  that  time  forward  to  eternity  he  shall  never  cease  to 
be  ;  and  let  him  die  young  or  old,  still  he  hath  an  immortal 
soul,  and  hath  laid  down  his  body  only  for  a  time,  as  that 
which  was  the  instrument  of  his  trouble  and  sorrow,  and  the 
scene  of  sicknesses  and  disease.  But  he  is  in  a  more  noble 
manner  of  being  after  death,  than  he  can  be  here  ;  and  the 
child  may,  with  more  reason,  be  allowed  to  cry  for  leaving  his 
mother's  womb  for  the  world,  than  a  man  can  for  changing 
this  world  for  another. 

Sudden  Death  or  violent. 
Others  are  yet  troubled  at  the  manner  of  their  child's  or 
friend's  death.  He  was  drowned,  or  lost  his  head,  or  died 
of  the  plague  ;  and  this  is  a  new  spring  of  sorrow.  But  no 
man  can  give  a  sensible  account,  how  it  shall  be  worse  for 
a  child  to  die  with  drowning  in  half  an  hour,  than  to  endure 
a  fever  of  one-and-twenty  days.  And  if  my  friend  lost  his 
head,  so  he  did  not  lose  his  constancy  and  his  religion,  he 
died  with  huge  advantage. 
N 


122  OF  COXTEXTEDNESS. 

Being  Childless. 
But,  by  this  means,  I  am  left  without  an  heir.  Well,  sup- 
pose that :  thou  hast  no  heir,  and  I  have  no  inheritance  : 
and  there  are  many  kings  and  emperors  that  have  died 
childless,  many  royal  lines  are  extinguished :  and  Augustus 
Caesar  was  forced  to  adopt  his  wife's  son  to  inherit  all  the 
Roman  greatness.  And  there  are  many  wise  persons  that 
never  married ;  and  we  read  no  where,  that  any  of  the  chil- 
dren of  the  apostles  did  survive  their  fathers :  and  all  that 
inherit  any  thing  of  Christ's  kingdom,  come  to  it  by  adop- 
tion, not  by  natural  inheritance  ;  and  to  die  without  a  natural 
heir  is  no  intolerable  evil,  since  it  was  sanctified  in  the  per- 
son of  Jesus,  who  died  a  virgin. 

Evil  or  unfortunate  Children. 

And  by  this  means  we  are  freed  from  the  greater  sorrows 
of  having  a  fool,  a  swine,  or  a  goat,  to  rule  after  us  in  our 
families ;  and  yet  even  this  condition  admits  of  comfort. 
For  all  the  wild  Americans  are  supposed  to  be  the  sons  of 
Dodonaim ;  and  the  sons  of  Jacob  are  now  the  most  scat- 
tered and  despised  people  in  the  whole  world.  The  son  of 
Solomon  was  but  a  silly  weak  man  ;  and  the  son  of  Heze- 
kiah  was  wicked :  and  all  the  fools  and  barbarous  people, 
all  the  thieves  and  pirates,  all  the  slaves  and  miserable  men 
and  women  of  the  world,  are  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
Noah  ;  and  we  must  not  look  to  be  exempted  from  that  por- 
tion of  sorrow,  which  God  gave  to  Noah  and  Adam,  to  Abra- 
ham, to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob ;  I  pray  God  send  us  into  the 
lot  of  Abraham.  But  if  any  thing  happens  worse  to  us,  it  is 
enough  for  us,  that  we  bear  it  evenly. 

Our  oxen  Death. 
And  how,  if  you  were  to  die  yourself?  You  know  you 
must.  Only  be  ready  for  it,  by  the  preparations  of  a  good 
life ;  and  then  it  is  the  greatest  good  that  ever  happened 
to  thee  ;  else  there  is  nothing  that  can  comfort  you.  But 
if  you  have  served  God  in  a  holy  life,  send  away  the  wo- 
men and  the  weepers  ;  tell  them  it  is  as  much  intempe- 
rance to  weep  too  much  as  to  laugh  too  much :  and  when 
thou  art  alone,  or  with  fitting  company,  die  as  thou  shouldst, 
but  do  not  die  impatiently,  and  like  a  fox  catched  in  a  trap. 
For  if  you  fear  death,  you  shall  never  the  more  avoid  it, 
but  you  make  it  miserable.     Fannius,  that  killed  himself 


PRAYERS  FOR  SEVERAL  GRACES.  123 

for  fear  of  death,  died  as  certainly  as  Porcia,  that  ate 
burning  coals,  or  Cato,  that  cut  his  own  throat.  To  die 
is  necessary  and  natural,  and  it  may  be  honourable  ;  but 
to  die  poorly,  and  basely,  and  sinfully,  that  alone  is  it  that 
can  make  a  man  unfortunate.  No  man  can  be  a  slave, 
but  he  that  fears  pain,  or  fears  to  die.  To  such  a  man, 
nothing  but  chance  and  peaceable  times  can  secure  his  duty, 
and  he  depends  upon  things  without  for  his  felicity ;  and  so 
is  well  but  during  the  pleasure  of  his  enem}^,  or  a  thief,  or 
a  tyrant,  or  it  may  be  of  a  dog  or  a  wild  bull. 

Prayers  for  the  several  Graces  and  parts  of  Christian 

Sobriety, 

A  Prayer  against  Sensuality. 

O  eternal  Father,  thou  that  sittest  in  heaven  invested 
with  essential  glories  and  divine  perfections,  fill  my  soul 
with  so  deep  a  sense  of  the  excellencies  of  spiritual  and 
heavenly  things,  that,  my  affections  being  weaned  from 
the  pleasures  of  the  world,  and  the  false  allurements  of 
sin,  I  may,  with  great  severity,  and  the  prudence  of  a  holy 
discipline  and  strict  desires,  with  clear  resolutions  and  a 
free  spirit,  have  my  conversation  in  heaven  and  heavenly 
employments  ;  that  being,  in  affections  as  in  my  condition, 
a  pilgrim  and  a  stranger  here,  I  may  covet  after  and  labour 
for  an  abiding  city,  and  at  last  may  enter  into,  and  for  ever 
dwell  in,  the  celestial  Jerusalem,"  which  is  the  mother  of 
us  all,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

For  Temperance, 
O  Almighty  God  and  gracious  Father  of  men  and  angels, 
who  openest  thy  hand  and  fillest  all  things  with  plenty, 
and  hast  provided  for  thy  servant  sufficient  to  satisfy  all  my 
needs  ;  teach  me  to  use  thy  creatures  soberly  and  tempe- 
rately, that  I  may  not,  with  loads  of  meat  or  drink,  make 
the  temptations  of  mine  enemy  to  prevail  upon  me,  or  my 
spirit  unapt  for  the  performance  of  my  duty,  or  my  body 
healthless,  or  my  affections  sensual  and  unholy.  O  my 
God,  never  suff*er  that  the  blessings,  which  thou  givest  me, 
may  either  minister  to  sin  or  sickness,  but  to  health  and 
holiness  and  thanksgiving ;  that  in  the  strength  of  thy  pro- 
visions I  may  cheerfully,  and  actively,  and  diligently,  serve 
thee  :  that  I  may  worthily  feast  at  thy  table  here,  and  be 
accounted  worthy,  through  thy  grace,  to  be  admitted  to 
thy  table  hereafter,  at  the  eternal  supper  of  the  Lamb,  to 


124  PRAYERS  FOR 

sing  an  hallelujah  to  God  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 

Ghost,  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 

For  Chastity  :  to  be  said  especially  by  wimarfied  Persons^ 

Almighty  God,  our  most  holy  and  eternal  Father,  who 
art  of  pure  eyes,  and  canst  behold  no  uncleanness ;  let  thy 
gracious  and  Holy  Spirit  descend  upon  thy  servant,  and 
reprove  the  spirit  of  fornication  and  uncleanness,  and  cast 
him  out,  that  my  body  may  be  a  holy  temple,  and  my  soul 
a  sanctuary  to  entertain  the  Prince  of  purities,  the  holy  and 
eternal  Spirit  of  God.  O  let  no  impure  thoughts  pollute 
that  soul,  which  God  hath  sanctified ;  no  unclean  words 
pollute  that  tongue,  which  God  hath  commanded  to  be  an 
organ  of  his  praises  ;  no  unholy  and  unchaste  action  rend 
the  veil  of  that  temple,  where  the  holy  Jesus  hath  been 
pleased  to  enter,  and  hath  chosen  for  his  habitation  ;  but 
seal  up  all  my  senses  from  all  vain  objects,  and  let  them 
be  entirely  possessed  with  religion,  and  fortified  with  pru- 
dence, watchfulness,  and  mortification  ;  that  I,  possessing 
my  vessel  in  holiness,  may  let  it  down  with  a  holy  hope, 
and  receive  it  again  in  a  joyful  resurrection,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. 
A  Pray e?' for  the  Love  of  God,  to  be  said  by  Virgins  and 

Widows,  professed  or  resolved  so  to  live :   and  may  be 

used  by  any  07ie. 

O  holy  and  purest  Jesus,  who  wert  pleased  to  espouse 
every  holy  soul,  and  join  it  to  thee  with  a  holy  union  and 
mysterious  instruments  of  religious  society  and  communi- 
cations ;  O  fill  my  soul  with  religion,  and  desires,  holy  as 
the  thoughts  of  cherubim,  passionate  beyond  the  love  of 
women ;  that  I  may  love  thee,  as  much  as  ever  any  crea- 
ture loved  thee,  even  with  all  my  soul,  and  all  my  facul- 
ties, and  all  the  degrees  of  every  faculty  ;  let  me  know 
no  loves  but  those  of  duty  and  charity,  obedience  and  de- 
votion ;  that  I  may  for  ever  run  after  thee,  who  art  the  king 
of  virgins,  and  with  whom  whole  kingdoms  are  in  love,  and 
for  whose  sake  queens  have  died,  and  at  whose  feet  kings, 
with  joy,  have  laid  their  crowns  and  sceptres.  My  soul 
is  thine,  O  dearest  Jesu ;  thou  art  my  Lord,  and  hast  bound 
up  my  eyes  and  heart  from  all  stranger  affections  ;  give  me 
for  my  dowry,  purity  and  humility,  modesty  and  devotion, 
charity  and  patience,  and  at  last  bring  me  into  the  bride- 
chamber  to  partake  of  the  felicities,  and  to  lie  in  the  bosoxii. 


SEVERAL  GRACES  125 

of  the  bridegroom  to  eternal  ages,  O  holy  and  sweetest  Sa- 
viour Jesus.    Amen. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  married  Persons  in  behalf 
of  themselves  and  each  other. 

O  eternal  and  gracious  Father,  who  hast  consecrated 
the  holy  estate  of  marriage  to  become  mysterious,  and  to 
represent  the  union  of  Christ  and  his  church,  let  thy  Holy 
Spirit  so  guide  me  in  the  doing  the  duties  of  this  state,  that 
it  may  not  become  a  sin  unto  me ;  nor  that  liberty,  which 
thou  hast  hallowed  by  the  Holy  Jesus,  become  an  occasion 
of  licentiousness  by  my  own  weakness  and  sensuality  :  and 
do  thou  forgive  all  those  irregularities  and  too  sensual  ap- 
plications, which  may  have,  in  any  degree,  discomposed 
my  spirit  and  the  severity  of  a  Christian.  Let  me,  in  all 
accidents  and  circumstances,  be  severe  in  my  duty  towards 
thee,  affectionate  and  dear  to  my  wife  (or  husband,)  a 
guide  and  good  example  to  my  family,  and  in  all  quiet- 
ness, sobriety,  prudence,  and  peace,  a  follower  of  those 
holy  pairs,  who  have  served  thee  with  godliness  and  a 
good  testimony.  And  the  blessings  of  the  eternal  God, 
blessings  of  the  right  hand  and  of  the  left,  be  upon  the 
body  and  soul  of  thy  servant  my  wife  (or  husband,)  and 
abide  upon  her  (or  him)  till  the  end  of  a  holy  and  happy 
life ;  and  grant  that  both  of  us  may  live  together  for  ever 
in  the  embraces  of  the  holy  and  eternal  Jesus,  our  Lord  and 
Saviour.     Amen. 

A  Prayer  for  the  Grace  of  Humility, 

O  holy  and  most  gracious  Master  and  Saviour  Jesus,  who 
by  thy  example  and  by  thy  precept,  by  the  practice  of  a 
whole  life  and  frequent  discourses,  didst  command  us  to  be 
meek  and  humble  in  imitation  of  thy  incomparable  sweetness 
and  great  humility  ;  be  pleased  to  give  me  the  grace,  as 
thou  hast  given  me  the  commandment :  enable  me  to  do  what- 
soever thou  commandest,  and  command  whatsoever  thou 
pleasest.  O  mortify  i.'.r  me  all  proud  thoughts  and  vain 
opinions  of  myself:  let  me  return  to  thee  the  acknow- 
ledgment and  the  fruits  of  all  those  good  things  thou  hast 
given  me,  that,  by  confessing  I  am  wholly  in  debt  to  thee 
for  them,  I  may  not  boast  myself  for  what  I  have  received, 
and  for  what  I  am  highly  accountable  :  and  for  what  is  my 
own,  teach  me  to  be  ashamed  and  humbled,  it  being  no- 
n2 


126  PRAYERS  FOR  SEVERAL  GRACES. 

thing  but  sin  and  misery,  weakness  and  iincleanness.  Let 
me  go  before  my  brethren  in  nothing  but  in  striving  to  do 
them  honour,  and  thee  glory,  never  to  seek  my  own  praise, 
never  to  delight  in  it,  when  it  is  offered ;  that  despising 
myself  I  may  be  accepted  by  thee  in  the  honours,  with  which 
thou  shalt  crov»^n  thy  humble  and  despised  servants,  for 
Jesus's  sake,  in  the  kingdom  of  eternal  glory.     Amen. 

Acts  of  Humility  and  Modesty  by  icay  of  Prayer  and 
Meditation. 

I. 

Lord,  I  know  that  my  spirit  is  light  and  thorny,  my  body 
is  brutish  and  exposed  to  sickness  ;  I  am  constant  to  folly, 
and  inconstant  in  holy  purposes.  My  labours  are  vain  and 
fruitless ;  my  fortune  full  of  change  and  trouble,  seldom 
pleasing,  never  perfect :  my  wisdom  is  folly  ;  being  ignorant 
even  of  the  parts  and  passions  of  my  own  body :  and  what 
am  I,  O  Lord,  before  thee,  but  a  miserable  person,  hugely 
in  debt,  not  able  to  pay  1 

II. 

Lord,  I  am  nothing,  and  I  have  nothing  of  myself:  I  am 
less  than  the  least  of  all  thy  mercies. 

in. 

What  was  I  before  my  birth  ?  First,  nothing,  and  then  un- 
cleanness.  What  during  my  childhood'?  Weakness  and  folly. 
What  in  my  youth  ?  Folly  still  and  passion,  lust,  and  wild- 
ness.  What  in  my  whole  life  ?  A  great  sinner,  a  deceived 
and  an  abused  person.  Lord,  })ity  me ;  for  it  is  thy  good- 
ness, that  I  am  kept  from  confusion  and  amazement,  when 
I  consider  the  misery  and  shame  of  my  person,  and  the  de- 
filements of  my  nature. 

IV. 

Lord,  what  am  I  ?  And,  Lord,  what  art  thou?  "  What  is 
man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him,  and  the  son  of  man,  that 
thou  so  regardest  him  ?" 

V.         a. 

"  How  can  man  be  justified  with  God  1  Or  how  can  he  be 
clean,  that  is  born  of  a  woman  1  Behold,  even  to  the  moon, 
and  it  shineth  not ;  yea,  the  stars  are  not  pure  in  his  sight  ; 
How  much  less  man,  that  is  a  worm,  and  the  son  of  man, 
which  is  a  worm  !"* 

*  Job  XXV.  4 


OF  CHRISTIAN  JUSTICE.  127 

A  Prayer  for  a  contented  Sinrlt  and  the  Grace  of 
Moderation  and  Patience. 

O  Almighty  God,  Father  and  Lord  of  all  the  creatures, 
who  hast  disposed  all  things  and  all  chances  so  as  may  best 
glorify  thy  wisdom,  and  serve  the  ends  of  thy  justice,  and 
magnify  thy  mercy,  by  secret  and  indiscernible  ways  bring- 
ing good  out  of  evil;  I  most  humbly  beseech  thee  to  give 
me  wisdom  from  above,  that  I  may  adore  thee,  and  admire 
thy  ways  and  footsteps,  which  arc  in  the  great  deep  and  not 
to  be  searched  out :  teach  me  to  submit  to  thy  providence 
in  all  things,  to  be  content  in  all  changes  of  person  and 
condition,  to  be  temperate  in  prosperity,  and  to  read  my 
duty  in  the  lines  of  thy  mercy ;  and,  in  adversity,  to  be 
meek,  patient,  and  resigned  ;  and  to  look  through  the  cloud, 
that  I  may  wait  for  the  consolation  of  the  Lord,  and  the  day 
of  redemption  ;  in  the  mean  time  doing  my  duty  with  an  un- 
wearied diligence,  and  an  undisturbed  resolution,  having  no 
fondness  for  the  vanities  or  possessions  of  this  world  ;  but 
laying  up  my  hopes  in  heaven  and  the  rewards  of  holy  liv- 
ing, and  being  strengthened  with  the  spirit  of  the  inner  man, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 


CHAPTER  in. 

OF  CHRISTIAN  JUSTICE. 

Justice  is,  by  the  Christian  religion,  enjoined  in  all  its 
parts  by  these  two  propositions  in  Scripture :  "  What- 
soever ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  even  so  do  to 
them."  This  is  the  measure  of  commutative  justice,  or  of 
that  justice,  which  supposes  exchange  of  things  profitable 
for  things  profitable  :  that,  as  I  supply  your  need,  you  may 
supply  mine;  as  I  do  a  benefit  to  you,  I  may  receive  one 
by  you  :  and  because  every  man  may  be  injured  by  an- 
other, therefore  his  security  shall  depend  upon  mine  :  if  he 
will  not  let  me  be  safe,  he  shall  not  be  safe  himself  (only 
the  manner  of  his  being  punished  is,  upon  great  reason, 
both  by  God  and  all  the  world,  taken  from  particulars, 
and  committed  to  a  public  disinterested  person,  who  will 
do  justice  without  passion,  both  to  him  and  to  me  ;)  if  he 
refuses  to  do  me  advantage,  he  shall  receive  none,  when 
his  needs  require  it.  And  thus  God  gave  necessities  to 
men,  that  all  men  might  need  ;  and  several  abilities  to  se- 


128  C)F  OBEDIENCE. 

veral  persons,  that  each  man  might  help  to  supply  the  pub- 
lic needs,  and  by  joining  to  fill  up  all  wants,  they  may  knit 
together  by  justice,  as  the  parts  of  the  world  are  by  na- 
ture :  and  he  hath  made  all  obnoxious  to  injuries,  and 
made  every  little  thing  strong  enough  to  do  us  hurt  by 
some  instrument  or  other  ;  and  hath  given  us  all  a  suffi- 
cient stock  of  self-love,  and  desire  of  self-preservation,  to 
be  as  the  chain  to  tie  together  all  the  parts  of  society,  and 
to  restrain  us  from  doing  violence,  lest  we  be  violently  dealt 
withal  ourselves. 

The  other  part  of  justice  is  commonly  called  distributive, 
and  is  commanded  in  this  rule,  "  Render  to  all  their  dues ; 
tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due;  custom,  to  whom  custom; 
fear,  to  whom  fear ;  honour,  to  whom  honour.  Owe  no 
man  any  thing,  but  to  love  one  another."*  This  justice  is 
distinguished  from  the  first :  because  the  obligation  de- 
pends not  upon  contract  or  express  bargain,  but  passes  upon 
us  by  virtue  of  some  command  of  God,  or  of  our  superior, 
by  nature  or  by  grace,  by  piety  or  religion,  by  trust  or  by 
office,  according  to  that  commandment,  "  As  every  man  hath 
received  the  gift,  so  let  him  minister  the  same,  one  to  an- 
other, as  good  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God."f 
And  as  the  first  considers  an  equality  of  persons  in  respect 
of  the  contract  or  particular  necessity,  this  supposes  adiflfer- 
ence  of  persons,  and  no  particular  bargains,  but  such  neces- 
sary intercourses,  as  by  the  laws  of  God  or  man  are  introduced. 
But  I  shall  reduce  all  the  particulars  of  both  kinds  to  these 
four  heads:  1.  Obedience  ;  2.  Provision;  3.  Negotiation; 
4.  Restitution. 

SECTION  I. 

Of  Obedience  to  our  Superiors. 

Our  superiors  are  set  over  us  in  affiiirs  of  the  world,  or 
the  affiiirs  of  the  soul,  and  things  pertaining  to  religion, 
and  are  called  accordingly,  ecclesiastical  or  civil.  To- 
wards whom  our  duty  is  thus  generally  described  in  the 
New  Testament.  For  temporal  or  civil  governors  the  com- 
mands are  these  :  "  Render  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are 
Caesar's ;"  and  "  Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the  higher 
powers :  for  there  is  no  power  but  of  God  ;  the  powers 
that  be,  are  ordained  of  God :  whosoever  therefore  resist- 

*  Rom.  xiii.  7.  1 1  Pet.  iv.  10. 


OF  OBEDIENCE.  129 

eth  the  power,  resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God  ;  and  they 
that  resist,  shall  receive  to  themselves  damnation  :"*  and 
"  Put  them  in  mind  to  be  subject  to  principalities  and 
powers,  and  to  obey  magistrates  :"f  and  "  Submit  yourselves 
to  every  ordinance  of  man,  for  the  Lord's  sake  ;  whether  it 
be  to  the  kino-,  as  supreme  ;  or  unto  governors,  as  unto  them 
that  are  sent  by  liim  for  the  punishment  of  evil-doers,  and 
the  praise  of  them  that  do  well.":j: 

For  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  governors,  thus  we  are  com- 
manded :  "  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and 
submit  yourselves ;  for  they  watch  for  your  souls,  as  they  that 
must  give  an  account  :"§  and  "  Hold  such  in  reputation  ,-"|| 
and  "  To  this  end  did  I  write,  that  I  might  know  the  proof 
of  you,  whether  ye  be  obedient  in  all  things  :"ir  said  St. 
Paul  to  the  church  of  Corinth.  Our  duty  is  reducible  to 
practice  by  the  following  rules. 

Acts  and  Duties  of  Obedience  to  all  our  Superiors* 

1.  We  must  obey  all  human  laws  appointed  and  constituted 
by  lawful  authority,  that  is,  of  the  supreme  power,  according 
to  the  constitution  of  the  place  in  which  we  live  ;  all  laws, 
I  mean,  which  are  not  against  the  law  of  God. 

2.  In  obedience  to  human  laws,  we  must  observe  the 
letter  of  the  law,  where  we  can,  without  doing  violence  to 
the  reason  of  the  law,  and  the  intention  of  the  lawgiver : 
but,  where  they  cross  each  other,  the  charity  of  the  law  is 
to  be  preferred  before  its  discipline ;  and  the  reason  of  it, 
before  the  letter. 

3.  If  the  general  reason  of  the  law  ceases  in  our  particu- 
lar, and  a  contrary  reason  rises  upon  us,  we  are  to  procure 
dispensation,  or  leave  to  omit  the  observation  of  it  in  such 
circumstances,  if  there  be  any  persons  or  office  appointed  for 
gi-anting  it :  but  if  there  be  none,  or  if  it  is  not  easily  to  be 
had,  or  not  without  an  inconvenience  greater  than  the  good 
of  the  observation  of  the  law  in  our  particular,  we  are  dis- 
pensed withal  in  the  nature  of  the  thing,  without  farther 
process  or  trouble. 

4.  As  long  as  the  law  is  obligatory,  so  long  our  obedience 
is  due ;  and  he  that  begins  a  contrary  custom  without  rea- 
son, sins  :  but  he,  that  breaks  the  law,  when  the  custom  is 
entered  and  fixed,  is  excused ;  because  it  is  supposed  the 

*  Rom.  xiii.  1.  t  Titus  iii.  1.  t  1  Pet.  ii.  13. 

$  Heb.  xiii.  17.  1 1  Phil.  ii.  39,  IT  3  Cor.  ii.  9. 


130  OF  OBEDIENCE. 

legislative  power  consents,  when,  by  not  punishing,  it  suf- 
fers disobedience  to  grow  up  to  a  custom. 

5.  Obedience  to  human  laws  must  be  for  conscience 
sake  :  that  is,  because,  in  such  obedience,  public  order, 
and  charity,  and  benefit,  are  concerned,  and  because  the 
law  of  God  commands  us  ;  therefore  we  must  make  a  con- 
science in  keeping  the  just  laws  of  superiors  :  and,  although 
the  matter  before  the  making  of  the  law  was  indifferent, 
yet  now  the  obedience  is  not  indifferent ;  but,  next  to  the 
laws  of  God,  we  are  to  obey  the  laws  of  all  our  superiors, 
who  the  more  public  they  are,  the  first  they  are  to  be  in  the 
order  of  obedience. 

6.  Submit  to  the  punishment  and  censure  of  the  laws, 
and  seek  not  to  reverse  their  judgment  by  opposing,  but 
by  submitting,  or  flying,  or  silence,  to  pass  through  it  or 
by  it,  as  we  can :  and  although  from  inferior  judges  we 
may  appeal,  where  the  law  permits  us,  yet  we  must  sit 
down  and  rest  in  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme :  and  if  we 
be  wronged,  let  us  complain  to  God  of  the  injury,  not  of 
the  persons ;  and  he  will  deliver  thy  soul  from  unrighteous 
judges. 

7.  Do  not  believe  thou  hast  kept  the  law,  when  thou  hast 
suffered  the  punishment.  For  although  patiently  to  submit 
to  the  power  of  the  sword  be  a  part  of  obedience,  yet  this  is 
such  a  part,  as  supposes  another  left  undone :  and  the  law 
punishes,  not  because  she  is  as  well  pleased  in  taking  ven- 
geance as  in  being  obeyed ;  but,  because  she  is  pleased,  she 
uses  punishment  as  a  means  to  secure  obedience  for  the 
future,  or  in  others.  Therefore,  although  in  such  cases  the 
law  is  satisfied,  and  the  injury  and  the  injustice  are  paid  for, 
yet  the  sins  of  irreligion,  and  scandal,  and  disobedience  to 
God,  must  still  be  so  accounted  for,  as  to  crave  pardon  ;  and 
be  washed  off  by  repentance. 

8.  Human  laws  are  not  to  be  broken  with  scandal,  nor 
at  all  without  reason ;  for  he  that  does  it  causelessly,  is  a 
despiser  of  the  law,  and  undervalues  the  authority.  For 
human  laws  differ  from  Divine  laws  principally  in  this:  1. 
That  the  positive  commands  of  a  man  may  be  broken  upon 
smaller  and  more  reasons,  than  the  positive  commands  of 
God  ;  we  may,  upon  a  smaller  reason,  omit  to  keep  any 
of  the  fasting-days  of  the  church,  than  omit  to  give  alms  to 
the  poor :  only  this,  the  reason  must  bear  weight  according 
to  the  gravity  and  concernment  of  the  law  ;  a  law,  in  a  small 


OF  OBEDIENCE.  131 

matter,  may  be  omitted  for  a  small  reason  ;  in  a  great  mat- 
ter, not  without  a  greater  reason.  And,  2.  The  negative 
precepts  of  men  may  cease  by  many  instruments,  by  con- 
trary customs,  by  public  disrelish,  by  long  omission  :  but 
the  negative  precepts  of  God  never  can  cease,  but  when 
they  are  expressly  abrogated  by  the  same  authority.  But 
what  those  reasons  are,  that  can  dispense  with  the  command 
of  a  man,  a  man  may  be  his  own  judge,  and  sometimes  take 
his  proportions  from  his  own  reason  and  necessity,  some- 
times from  public  fame,  and  the  practice  of  pious  and  se- 
vere persons,  and  from  popular  customs ;  in  which  a  man 
shall  walk  most  safely,  when  he  does  not  walk  alone, 
but  a  spiritual  man  takes  him  by  the  hand. 

9.  We  must  not  be  too  forward  in  procuring  dispensa- 
tions, nor  use  them  any  longer,  than  the  reason  continues, 
for  which  we  first  procured  them :  for  to  be  dispensed 
withal  is  an  argument  of  natural  infirmity,  if  it  be  neces- 
sary ;  but,  if  it  be  not,  it  signifies  an  undisciplined  and  un- 
mortified  spirit. 

10.  We  must  not  be  too  easy  in  examining  the  prudence 
and  unreasonableness  of  human  laws  :  for  although  we  are 
not  bound  to  believe  them  all  to  be  the  wisest ;  yet  if,  by 
inquiring  into  the  lawfulness  of  them,  or  by  any  other  in- 
strument, we  find  them  to  fail  of  that  wisdom,  with  which 
some  others  are  ordained,  yet  we  must  never  make  use  of 
it  to  disparage  the  person  of  the  lawgiver,  or  to  countenance 
any  man's  disobedience,  much  less  our  own. 

11.  Pay  that  reverence  to  the  person  of  thy  prince,  of 
his  ministers,  of  thy  parents  and  spiritual  guides,  which, 
by  the  customs  of  the  place  thou  livest  in,  are  usually  paid 
to  such  persons  in  their  several  degrees :  that  is,  that  the 
highest  reverence  be  paid  to  the  highest  person,  and  so 
still  in  proportion  ;  and  that  this  reverence  be  expressed 
in  all  the  circumstances  and  manners  of  the  city  and 
nation. 

12.  Lift  not  up  thy  hand  against  thy  prince  or  parent, 
upon  what  pretence  soever :  but  bear  all  personal  affronts 
and  inconveniences  at  their  hands,  and  seek  no  remedy  but 
by  patience  and  piety,  yielding  and  praying,  or  absenting 
thyself.  » 

13.  Speak  not  evil  of  the  ruler  of  thy  people,  neither 
curse  thy  father  or  mother,  nor  revile  thy  spiritual  guides, 
nor  discover  and  lav  naked  their  infirmities :  but  treat  them 


132  OF  OBEDIENCE. 

with  reverence  and  religion,  and  preserve  their  authority 
sacred,  by  esteeming  their  persons  venerable. 

14.  Pay  tribute  and  customs  to  princes  according  to  the 
laws,  and  maintenance  to  thy  parents  according  to  their 
necessity,  and  honourable  support  to  the  clergy  according 
to  the  dignity  of  the  work,  and  the  customs  of  the  place. 

15.  Remember  always,  that  duty  to  our  superiors  is  not 
an  act  of  commutative  justice,  but  of  distributive  ;  that  is, 
although  kings  and  parents  and  spiritual  guides  are  to 
pay  a  great  duty  to  their  inferiors,  the  duty  of  their  seve- 
ral charges  and  government :  yet  the  good  government  of 
a  king  and  of  parents  are  actions  of  religion,  as  they  relate 
to  God,  and  of  piety,  as  they  relate  to  their  people  and  fa- 
milies. And  although  we  usually  call  them  just  princes, 
who  administer -their  laws  exactly  to  the  people,  because 
the  actions  are  in  the  manner  of  justice  ;  yet,  in  propriety 
of  speech,  they  are  rather  to  be  called  pious  and  religious. 
For  as  he  is  not  called  a  just  father,  that  educates  his  chil- 
dren well,  but  pious  ;  so  that  prince,  who  defends  and  well 
rules  his  people,  is  religious,  and  does  that  duty,  for  which 
alone,  he  is  answerable  to  God.  The  consequence  of  which 
is  this,  so  far  as  concerns  our  duty  :  If  the  prince  or  parent 
fail  of  their  duty,  we  must  not  fail  of  ours ;  for  we  are  an- 
swerable to  them  and  to  God  too,  as  being  accountable  to 
all  our  superiors,  and  so  are  they  to  theirs  :  they  are  above 
us,  and  God  is  above  them. 

Remedies  against  Disohedience,  and  means  to  endear  our 
Obedience  ;  by  way  of  consideration. 

1.  Consider,  that  all  authority  descends  from  God,  and 
our  superiors  bear  the  image  of  the  Divine  power,  which 
God  imprints  on  them  as  on  an  image  of  clay,  or  a  coin 
upon  a  less  perfect  metal,  which  whoso  defaces,  shall  not  be 
answerable  for  the  loss  or  spoil  of  the  materials,  but  the  de- 
facing the  king's  image  ;  and,  in  the  same  measure,  will 
God  require  it  at  our  hands,  if  we  despise  his  authority, 
upon  whomsoever  he  hath  imprinted  it.  "  He  that  despiseth 
you,  despiseth  me."  And  Dathan  and  Abiram  were  said 
to  be  "  gathered  together  against  the  Lord."  And  this  was 
St.  Paul's  argument  for  ou»  obedience  ;  "  The  powers  that 
be,  are  ordained  of  God." 

2.  There  is  very  great -peace  and  immunity  from  sin  in 
resigning  our  wills  up  to  the  command  of  others  :  for  pro- 


OF  OBEDIENCE.  133 

vided  that  our  duty  to  God  be  secured,  their  commands  ate 
warrants  to  us  in  all  things  else;  and  the  case  of  con- 
science is  determined,  if  the  command  be  evident  and  press- 
ing ;  and  it  is  certain,  the  action,  that  is  but  indiflerent,  and 
without  reward,  if  done  only  upon  our  own  choice,  is  an 
act  of  duty  and  of  religion,  and  rewardable  by  the  grace 
and  favour  of  God,  if  done  in  obedience  to  the  command 
of  our  superiors.  For  since  naturally  we  desire  what  is 
forbidden  us  (and  sometimes  there  is  no  other  evil  in  the 
thing,  but  that  it  is  forbidden  us,)  God  hath  in  grace  en- 
joined and  proportionably  accepts  obedience,  as  being  di- 
rectly opposed  to  the  former  irregularity  ;  and  it  is  accept- 
able, although  there  be  no  other  good  in  the  thing,  that  is 
commanded  us,  but  that  it  is  commanded. 

3.  By  obedience,  we  are  made  a  society  and  a  republic, 
and  distinguished  from  herds  of  beasts,  and  heaps  of  flies, 
who  do  what  they  list,  and  are  incapable  of  laws,  and  obey 
none  ;  and  therefore  are  killed  and  destroyed,  though  never 
punished,  and  they  never  can  have  a  reward. 

4.  By  obedience,  v/e  are  rendered  capable  of  all  the 
blessings  of  government,  signified  by  St.  Paul  in  these 
words ;  "  He  is  the  minister  of  God  to  thee  for  good  ;"*  and 
by  St.  Peter  in  these :  "  Governors  ares  sent  by  him  for  the 
punishment  of  evil  doers,  and  for  the  praise  of  them  that 
do  well."t  And  he  that  ever  felt,  or  saw,  or  can  under- 
stand, the  miseries  of  confusion  in  public  affairs,  or  amaze- 
ment in  a  heap  of  sad,  tumultuous,  and  indefinite  thoughts, 
may,  from  thence,  judge  of  the  admirable  efTects  of  order, 
and  the  beauty  of  government.  What  health  is  to  the 
body,  and  peace  is  to  the  spirit,  that  is  government  to  the 
societies  of  men  ;  the  greatest  blessing,  which  they  can  re- 
ceive in  that  temporal  capacity. 

5.  No  man  shall  ever  be  fit  to  govern  others,  that  knows 
not  first  how  to  obey.  For  if  the  spirit  of  a  subject  be  re- 
bellious, in  a  prince  it  will  be  tyrannical  and  intolerable  : 
and  of  so  ill  example,  that  as  it  will  encourage  the  disobe- 
dience of  others,  so  it  will  render  it  unreasonable  for  him 
to  exact  of  others,  what  in  the  like  case  he  refused  to  pay. 

6.  There  is  no  sin  in  the  world,  which  God  hath  punished 
with  so  great  severity  and  high  detestation,  as  this  of  dis- 
obedience. For  the  crime  of  idolatry  God  sent  the  sword 
amongst  his  people  ;  but  it  was  never  heard,  that  the  earth 

*  Rom.xiii.  4.  '  t  IPetii.  14. 

O 


134 


OF  OBEDIENCE. 


opened  and  swallowed  up  any  but  rebels  against  their 
prince. 

7.  Obedience  is  better  tlian  the  particular  actions  of  re- 
ligion;  and  he  serves  God  better,  that  follows  his  prince 
in  lawful  services,  than  he,  that  refuses  his  command,  upon 
pretence  he  must  go  say  his  prayers.  But  rebellion  is  com- 
pared to  that  sin,  w^hich  of  all  sin  seems  the  most  unna- 
tural and  damned  impiety  : — "  Rebellion  is  as  the  sin  of 
witchcraft." 

.8.  Obedience  is  a  complicated  act  of  virtue,  and  many 
graces  are  exercised  in  one  act  of  obedience.  It  is  an  act 
of  humility,  of  mortification  and  self-denial,  of  charity  to 
God,  of  care  of  the  public,  of  order  and  charity  to  our- 
selves and  all  our  society,  and  a  great  instance  of  a  victory 
over  the  most  refractory  and  unruly  passions. 

9.  To  be  a  subject  is  a  greater  temporal  felicity,  than  to 
be  a  king :  for  all  eminent  governments  according  to  their 
height  have  a  great  burden,  huge  care,  infinite  business, 
little  rest,  innumerable  fears  ;  and  all  that  he  enjoys  above 
another,  is,  that  he  does  enjoy  the  things  of  the  world  with 
other  circumstances,  and  a  bigger  noise  ;  and  if  others  go 
at  his  single  command,  it  is  also  certain,  he  must  suffer  in- 
convenience at  the  needs  and  disturbances  of  all  his  people  : 
and  the  evils  of  one  man  and  of  one  family  are  not  enough 
for  him  to  bear,  unless  also  he  be  almost  crushed  with  the 
evils  of  mankind.  He  therefore  is  an  ungrateful  person, 
that  will  press  the  scales  down  with  a  voluntary  load,  and, 
by  disobedience,  put  more  thorns  into  the  crown  or  mitre 
of  his  superior.  ]\Iuch  better  is  the  advice  of  St.  Paul ; 
"Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  as  they  that 
nust  give  an  account  for  your  souls ;  that  they  may  do  it 
with  joy  and  not  with  grief:  for  (besides  that  it  is  unplea- 
sant to  them)  it  is  unprofitable  for  you.*' 

10.  The  angels  arc  ministering  spirits,  and  perpetually 
execute  the  will  and  commandment  of  God  :  and  all  the 
wise  men  and  all  the  good  men  of  the  world  are  obedient 
to  their  governors  ;  and  the  eternal  Son  of  God  esteemed  it 
his  "  meat  and  drink  to  do  the  will  of  his  Father,"  and  for 
his  obedience  alone  obtained  the  greatest  glory :  and  no 
m.an  ever  came  to  perfection  but  by  obedience ;  and  thou- 
sands of  saints  have  chosen  such  institutions  and  manners 
of  living,  in  which  they  might  not  choose  their  own  work, 
nor  follow  their  own  will,  nor  please  themselves,  but  be  ac- 


OF  OBEDIENCE.  I35 

countable  to  others,  and  subject  to  discipline,  and  obedient 
to  command  ;  as  kno\vin<r  this  to  be  the  hiohway  of  the 
cross,  the  way  that  the  Kini^  of  suiTerings  and  humility  did 
choose,  and  so  became  the  kin^  of  i,dory. 

11.  No  man  ever  perislKjd,  who  followed  first  the  will 
of  God,  and  then  the  will  of  his  superiors ;  but  thousands 
have  been  damned  merely  for  following  their  own  will,  and 
relying  upon  their  own  judgments,  and  choosing  their  own 
w^ork,  and  doing  their  own  fancies.  For  if  we  begin  with 
ourselves,  whatsoever  seems  good  in  our  own  eyes,  is  most 
commonly  displeasing  in  the  eyes  of  God. 

12.  The  stn  of  rebellion,  though  it  be  a  spiritual  sin,  and 
imitable  by  devils,  yet  it  is  of  that  disorder,  unreasonable- 
ness, and  impossibility,  amongst  intelligent  spirits,  that  they 
never  murmured  or  mutinied  in  their  lower  stations  against 
their  superiors.  Nay,  the  good  angels  of  an  inferior  order 
durst  not  revile  a  devil  of  a  higher  order.  This  considera- 
tion, which  I  reckon  to  be  most  pressing  in  the  discourses 
of  reason,  and  obliging  next  to  the  necessity  of  a  Divine 
precept,  we  learn  from  St.  Jude,  ver.  8,  9.  "  Likewise  also 
these  filthy  dreamers  despise  dominion,  and  speak  evil  of 
dignities.  And  yet  Michael  the  archangel,  when,  contend- 
ing with  the  devil,  he  disputed  about  the  body  of  Moses, 
durst  not  bring  against  him  a  railing  accusation." 

But  because  our  superiors  rule  by  their  example,  by 
their  word  or  law,  and  by  the  rod,  therefore  in  proportion 
there  are  several  degrees  and  parts  of  obedience,  of  several 
excellencies  and  degrees  tow^ards  perfection. 

Degrees  of  Obedience. 

1.  The  first  is  the  obedience  of  the  outward  v/ork :  and 
this  is  all,  that  human  laws  of  themselves  regard  ;  for  be- 
cause man  cannot  judge  the  heart,  therefore  it  prescribes 
nothing  to  it :  the  public  end  is  served,  not  by  good  wishes, 
but  by  real  and  actual  performances  ;  and,  if  a  man  obeys 
against  his  will,  he  is  not  punishable  by  the  laws. 

2.  The  obedience  of  the  will :  and  this  is  also  necessary 
in  our  obedience  to  human  laws,  not  because  man  requires 
it  for  himself,  but  because  God  commands  it  towards  man  ; 
and  of  it,  although  man  cannot,  yet  God  will  demand  an 
account.  For  we  are  to  do  it  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  to. 
men  ;  and  therefore  we  must  do  it  willingly.  But  by  this' 
means  our  obedience  in  private  is  secured  against  secret 


136  OF  OBEDIENCE. 

arts  and  subterfug'es :  and  when  we  can  avoid  the  piniisli- 
ment,  yet  we  shall  not  decline  our  duty,  but  serve  man  for 
God's  sake,  that  is,  cheerfully,  promptly,  vigorously ;  for 
these  are  the  proper  parts  of  willingness  and  choice. 

3.  The  understanding  must  yield  obedience  in  general, 
though  not  in  the  particular  instance  ;  that  is,  we  must  be 
firmly  persuaded  of  the  excellency  of  the  obedience,  though 
we  be  not  bound,  in  all  cases,  to  think  the  particular  law 
to  be  most  prudent.  But,  in  this,  our  rule  is  plain  enough. 
Our  understanding  ought  to  be  inquisitive,  whether  the 
civil  constitution  agree  with  our  duty  to  God  ;  but  we  are 
bound  to  inquire  no  farther:  and  therefore  beyond  this, 
although  he,  who  having  no  obligation  to  it  (as  counsel- 
lors have,)  inquires  not  at  all  into  the  wisdom  or  reason- 
ableness of  the  law,  be  not  always  the  wisest  man ;  yet  he 
is  ever  the  best  subject.  For  when  he  hath  given  up  his 
understanding  to  his  prince  and  prelate,  provided  that  his 
duty  to  God  be  secured  by  a  precedent  search,  he  hath 
also  with  the  best,  and  with  all  the  instruments  in  the  world, 
secured  his  obedience  to  man. 

SECTION  11. 

Of  Provision,  or  that  part  of  Justice,  wJiich  is  due  from 
Superiors  to  Inferio?'s. 

As  God  hath  imprinted  his  authority  in  several  parts  upon 
several  estates  of  men,  as  princes,  parents,  spiritual  guides  : 
so  he  hath  also  delegated  and  committed  parts  of  his  care 
and  providence  under  them,  that  they  may  be  instrumental 
m  the  conveying  such  blessings,  which  God  knows  we 
need,  and  which  he  intends  should  be  the  effect  of  go- 
vernment. For  since  God  governs  all  the  world  as  a  king, 
provides  for  us  as  a  father,  and  is  the  great  guide  and  con- 
ductor of  our  spirits  as  the  head  of  the  church,  and  the 
great  shepherd  and  bishop  of  our  soul^,  they,  who  have 
portions  of  these  dignities,  have  also  their  share  of  the  ad- 
ministration :  the  sum  of  all  v.diich  is  usually  signified  in 
these  two  words,  governing  and  feeding,  and  is  particularly 
recited  in  these  following  rules. 

Duties  of  Kings,  and  all  the  Supreme  Powers,  as  Laiigivers. 

1.  Princes  of  the  people,  and  all  that  have  legislative 

jx)wer,  must  provide  useful  and  good  laws  for  the  defence 


OF  OBEDIENCE.  137 

of  property,  for  the  encourag-cmcnt  of  labour,  for  the 
safe-guard  of  their  persons,  for  determining'  controver- 
sies, for  reward  of  noble  actions  and  excellent  arts  and 
rare  inventions,  for  promoting  trade,  and  enriching  their 
people. 

2.  In  the  making  laws,  princes  must  have  regard  to  the 
public  dispositions,  to  the  aflcctions  and  disaflections  of  the 
people,  and  must  not  introduce  a  law  with  public  scandal 
and  displeasure  ;  but  consider  the  public  benefit,  and  the 
present  capacity  of  atliiirs,  and  general  inclinations  of  men's 
minds.  For  he  that  enforces  a  law  upon  a  people  against 
their  first  and  public  apprehensions,  tempts  them  to  disobe- 
dience, and  makes  laws  to  become  snares  and  hooks  to  catch 
the  people,  and  to  enrich  the  treasury  with  the  spoil  and 
tears  and  curses  of  the  commonalty/,  and  to  multiply  their 
mutiny  and  their  sin. 

3.  Princes  must  provide  that  the  laws  be  duly  executed  ; 
for  a  good  law,  without  execution,  is  like  an  unperformed 
promise  :  and  therefore  they  must  be  severe  exactors  of  ac- 
counts from  their  delegates  and  ministers  of  justice. 

4.  The  severity  of  laws  must  be  tempered  with  dispen- 
sations, pardons,  -and  remissions,  according  as  the  case 
shall  alter,  and  new  necessities  be  introduced,  or  some 
singular  accident  shall  happen,  in  which  the  law  would  be 
unreasonable  or  intolerable,  as  to  that  particular.  And 
thus  the  people,  with  their  importunity,  prevailed  against 
Saul  in  the  case  of  Jonathan,  and  obtained  his  pardon  for 
breaking  the  law,  which  his  father  made,  because  his  neces- 
sity forced  him  to  taste  honey ;  and  his  breaking  the  law, 
in  that  case,  did  promote  that  service,  whose  promotion  was 
intended  by  the  law. 

5.  Princes  must  be  fathers  of  the  people,  and  provide 
such  instances  of  gentleness,  ease,  wealth,  and  advantag.e,Sj 
as  may  make  mutual  confidence  between  them  ;  and  mus.^ 
fix  their  security  under  God  in  the  love  of  the  people; 
which  therefore  they  must,  with  all  arts  of  sweetness,  re- 
mission, popularity,  nobleness,  and  sincerity,  endeavour  to 
secure  to  themselves. 

6.  Princes  must  not  multiply  public  oaths  without  great, 
eminent,  and  violent  necessity;  lest  the  security  of  the 
king  become  a  snare  to  the  people,  and  they  become  false, 
when  they  see  themselves  suspected ;  or  impatient,  when 
they  are  violently  held  fast :  but  the  greater  and  more  use- 

o2 


138  OF  OBEDIENCE. 

ful  cautioii  is  upon  things  than  upon  persons :  and  if  se- 
curity of  Ring's  can  be  obtained  other^vise,  it  is  better  that 
oaths  should  be  the  last  refuge,  and  when  nothing  else 
can  be  sufficient. 

7.  Let  not  the  people  be  tempted  with  arguments  to  dis- 
obey, by  the  imposition  of  great  and  unnecessary  taxes  ; 
for  that  lost  to  the  son  of  Solomon  the  dominion  of  the  ten 
tribes  of  Israel. 

8.  Princes  must,  in  a  special  manner,  be  guardians  of 
pupils  and  Avidows,  not  suffering  their  persons  to  be  op- 
pressed, or  their  estates  imbeciled,  or  in  any  sense  be  ex- 
posed to  the  rapine  of  covetous  persons  ;  but  be  provided 
for  by  just  laws,  and  provident  judges,  and  good  guardians, 
ever  having  an  ear  ready  open  to  their  just  complaints,  and 
a  heart  full  of  pity,  one  hand  to  support  them,  and  the  other 
to  avenge  them. 

9.  Princes  must  provide,  that  the  laws  may  be  so  admin- 
istered, that  they  be  truly  and  really  an  ease  to  the  peo- 
ple, not  an  instrument  of  vexation :  and  therefore  must  be 
careful,  that  the  shortest  and  most  equal  ways  of  trials  be 
appointed,  fees  moderated,  and  intricacies  and  windings  as 
much  cut  off  as  may  be,  lest  injured  persons  be  forced  to 
perish  under  the  oppression,  or  under  the  law,  in  the  injury, 
or  in  the  suit.  Laws  are  like  princes,  those  best  and  most 
beloved,  who  arc  most  easy  of  access. 

10.  Places  of  judicature  ought,  at  no  hand,  to  be  sold  by 
pious  princes,  who  remember  themselves  to  be  fathers  of 
the  people.  For  they  that  buy  the  office,  will  sell  the  act  ; 
and  they  that,  at  any  rate,  will  be  judges,  will  not,  at  any 
easy  rate,  do  justice ;  and  their  bribery  is  less  punishable, 
when  bribery  opened  the  door  by  which  they  entered. 

11.  Ancient  privileges,  favours,  customs,  and  acts  of  grace 
indulged  by  former  kings  to  their  people,  must  not,  with- 
out high  reason  and  great  necessities.,  be  revoked  by  their 
successors,  nor  forfeitures  be  exncted  violently,  nor  penal 
laws  urged  rigorously,  nor  in  light  cases  ;  nor  laws  be  mul- 
tiplied without  great  need ;  nor  vicious  persons,  which  are 
publicly  and  deservedly  hated,  be  kept  in  defiance  of  popular 
desires ;  nor  any  thing,  that  may  unnecessarily  make  the 
yoke  heavy. and  the  affection  light,  that  may  increase  mur- 
murs and  lessen  charity  ;  always  remembering,  that  the 
interest  of  the  prince  and  the  people  is  so  enfolded  in  a 
mutual  embrace,  that  they  cannot  be  untwisted  without 


THE  DUTY  OF  SUPERIORS.  139 

pulling  a  limb  oiT,  or  dissolving  the  bauds  and  conjunction 
of  the  whole  body. 

12.  All  princes  must  esteem  themselves  as  much  bound 
by  their  word,  by  their  grants,  and  by  their  promises,  as 
the  meanest  of  their  subjects  are  by  the  restraint  and  pe- 
nalty of  laws  :  and  although  they  are  superior  to  the  peo- 
ple, yet  they  are  not  superior  to  their  own  voluntary  con- 
cessions and  engagements,  their  promises  and  oaths,  when 
once  they  are  passed  from  them. 

The  Duty  of  Superiors  as  they  are  Judges. 

1,  Princes  in  judgment  and  their  delegate  judges  must 
judge  the  causes  of  all  persons  uprightly  and  impartially, 
without  any  personal  consideration  of  the  power  of  the 
mighty,  or  the  bribe  of  the  rich,  or  the  needs  of  the  poor. 
For  although  the  poor  must  fare  no  worse  for  his  poverty, 
yet,  in  justice,  he  must  fare  no  better  for  it :  and  although 
the  rich  must  be  no  more  regarded,  yet  he  must  not  be 
less.  And  to  this  purpose  the  tutor  of  Cyrus  instructed 
him,  when,  in  a  controversy  where  a  great  boy  would  have 
taken  a  large  coat  from  a  little  boy,  because  his  own  was 
too  little  for  him,  and  the  other's  was  too  big,  he  adjudged 
the  great  coat  to  the  great  boy  :  his  tutor  answered,  "  Sir, 
if  you  were  made  a  judge  of  decency  or  fitness,  you  had 
judged  well  in  giving  the  biggest  to  the  biggest ;  but  when 
you  are  appointed  to  judge,  not  whom  the  coat  did  fit,  but 
whose  it  was,  you  should  have  considered  the  title  and  the 
possession,  who  did  the  violence,  and  who  made  it,  or  who 
bought  it."  And  so  it  must  be  in  judgments  between  the 
rich  and  the  poor :  it  is  not  to  be  considered  what  the  poor 
man  needs,  but  what  is  his  own. 

2.  A  prince  may  not,  much  less  may  inferior  judges, 
deny  justice,  when  it  is  legally  and  competently  demanded: 
and  if  the  prince  will  use  his  prerogative  in  pardoning  an 
offender,  against  whom  justice  is  required,  he  must  be  care- 
ful to  give  satisfaction  to  the  injured  person,  or  his  rela- 
tives, by  some  otlier  instrument ;  and  be  watchful  to  take 
away  the  scand-l,  that  is,  lest  such  indulgence  might 
make  persons  more  bold  to  do  injury  :  and  if  he  spares  the 
life,  let  him  change  the  punishment  into  that,  which  may 
make  the  offender,  if  not  suffer  justice,  yet  do  justice,  and 
more  real  advantage  to  the  injured  person. 

These  rules  concern  princes  and  their  delegates  in  the 


140  THE  DUTY  OF  SUPERIORS. 

making  or  administering-  laws,  in  the  appointing  rules  of 
justice,  and  doing  acts  of  judgment.  The  duty  of  parents  to 
their  children  and  nephews  is  briefly  described  by  St.  Paul. 

The  Duty  of  Parents  to  their  Children. 

1.  "  Fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath  :"* 
that  is,  be  tender-bowelled,  pitiful,  and  gentle,  complying 
with  all  the  infirmities  of  the  children,  and,  in  their  several 
ages,  proportioning  to  them  several  usages,  according  to 
their  needs  and  their  capacities. 

2.  "  Bring  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord :"  that  is,  secure  their  religion  ;  season  their 
younger  years  with  prudent  and  pious  principles  ;  make 
them  in  love  with  virtue  ;  and  make  them  habitually  so, 
before  they  come  to  choose  or  to  discern  good  from  evil, 
that  their  choice  may  be  with  less  difficulty  and  danger. 
For  while  they  are  under  discipline,  they  suck  in  all  that 
they  are  first  taught,  and  believe  it  infinitely.  Provide  for 
them  wise,  learned,  and  virtuous  tutors,  and  good  company 
and  discipline,  seasonable  baptism,  catechism,  and  confirm- 
ation. For  it  is  great  folly  to  heap  up  much  wealth  for 
our  children,  and  not  to  take  care  concerning  the  children, 
for  whom  we  get  it.  It  is  as  if  a  man  should  take  more  care 
about  his  shoe  than  about  his  foot. 

3.  Parents  must  show  piety  at  home  ;f  that  is,  they 
must  give  good  example  and  reverend  deportment  in 
the  face  of  their  children  ;  and  all  those  instances  of  cha- 
rity, which  usually  endear  each  other,  sweetness  of  con- 
versation, afiability,  frequent  admonition,  all  significations 
of  love  and  tenderness,  care  and  watchfulness,  must  be  ex- 
pressed towards  children,  that  they  may  look  upon  their 
parents  as  their  friends  and  patrons,  their  defence  and 
sanctuary,  their  treasure  and  their  guide.  Hither  is  to  be 
reduced  the  nursing  of  children,  which  is  the  first,  and 
most  natural,  and  necessary  instance  of  piety,  which  mo- 
thers can  show  to  their  babes  ;  a  duty,  from  which  nothing 
will  excuse,  but  a  disability,  sickness,  danger,  or  public 
necessity. 

4.  Parents  must  provide  for  their  own,  according  to 
their  condition,  education,  and  employment :  called  by  St. 
Paul,  "  a  laying  up  for  the  children,":j:  that  is,  an  en- 
abling them,  by  competent  portions,  or  good  trades,  arts,  or 

*  Ephes.  vi.  4.         t  Heb.  xii.  9.    1  Tim.  v.  4.  t  1  Tim.  v.  1. 


THE  DUTY  OF  SUPERIORS.  141 

learning",  to  defend  themselves  against  tlie  chances  of  the 
world,  that  they  may  not  be  exposed  to  temptation,  to  beg-- 
gary,  or  unwortliy  arts.  And  although  this  must  be  done 
without  covetousness,  without  impatient  and  greedy  de- 
sires of  making-  them  rich;  yet  it  must  be  done  with  much 
care  and  great  aflcction,  with  all  reasonable  provision,  and 
according*  to  our  power:  and  if  we  can,  without  sin,  improve 
our  estates  for  them,  that  also  is  part  of  the  duty  we  owe 
to  God  for  them.  And  this  rule  is  to  extend  to  all  that 
descend  from  us,  although  we  have  been  overtaken  in  a 
fault,  and  have  unlawful  issue ;  they  also  become  part  of 
our  care,  yet  so  as  not  to  injure  the  production  of  the  law- 
ful bed. 

5.  This  duty  is  to  extend  to  a  provision  of  conditions  and 
an  estate  of  life.  Parents  must,  according  to  their  power 
and  reason,  provide  husbands  or  wives  for  their  children. 
In  which  they  must  secure  piety  and  religion,  and  the  af- 
fection and  love  of  the  interested  persons ;  and  after  these, 
let  them  make  what  provisions  they  can,  for  other  conveni- 
ences or  advantages ;  ever  remembering,  that  they  can  do 
no  injury  more  afflictive  to  the  children,  than  to  join  them 
with  cords  of  a  disagreeing  affection  ;  it  is  like  tying  a  wolf 
and  a  lamb,  or  planting  the  vine  in  a  garden  of  coleworts. 
Let  them  be  persuaded  with  reasonable  inducements  to  make 
them  willing,  and  to  choose  according  to  the  parent's  wish  ; 
but,  at  no  hand,  let  them  be  forced.  Better  to  sit  up  all 
night,  than  to  go  to  bed  with  a  dragon. 

Rules  for  Married  Persons. 
1.  Husbands  must  give  to  their  wives  love,  maintenance, 
duty,  and  the  sweetness  of  conversation  ;  and  wives  must 
pay  to  them  all  they  have,  or  can,  with  the  interest  of  obe- 
dience and  reverence  :  and  they  must  be  complicated  in 
affections  and  interest,  that  there  be  no  distinction  be- 
tween them  of  mine  and  thine.  And  if  the  title  be  the 
man's,  or  the  woman's,  yet  the  use  must  be  common ;  only 
the  wisdom  of  the  man  is  to  regulate  all  extravagancies  and 
indiscretions.  In  other  things,  no  question  is  to  be  made  ; 
and  their  goods  should  be  as  their  children,  not  to  be  di- 
vided, but  of  one  possession  and  provision :  whatsoever  is 
otherwise,  is  not  marriage,  but  merchandise.  And,  upon 
this  ground,  I  suppose,  it  was,  that  St.  Basil  commended 
that  woman,  who  took  part  of  her  husband's  goods,  to  do 


142  THE  pU.TY  OF  SUPERIORS. 

good  works  withal  :  for  supposing  him  to  be  unwilling,  and 
that  the  work  was  his  duty  or  hers  alone,  or  both  theirs  in 
conjunction,  or  of  great' advantage  to  either  of  their  souls, 
and  no  violence  to  the  support  of  their  families,  she  hath 
right  to  all  that:  and  Abigail,  of  her  own  right,  made  a 
costly  present  to  David,  when  her  husband  Nabal  had  re- 
fused it.  The  husband  must  rule  over  his  wife,  as  the  soul 
does  over  the  body,  obnoxious  to  the  same  sufferings,  and 
bound  by  the  same  affections,  and  doing  or  suffering  by 
the  permissions  and  interest  of  each  other :  that  (as  the  old 
philosopher  said)  as  the  humours  of  the  body  are  mingled 
with  each  other  in  the  whole  substances,  so  marriage  may- 
be a  mixture  of  interests,  of  bodies,  of  minds,  of  friends,  a 
conjunction  of  the  whole  life,  and  the  noblest  of  friend- 
ships. But  if,  after  all  the  fair  deportments  and  innocent 
chaste  compliances,  the  husband  be  morose  and  ungentle, 
let  the  wife  discourse  thus  :  "  If  while  I  do  my  duty,  my 
husband  neglects  me  ;  what  will  he  do,  if  I  neglect  him?" 
And  if  she  thinks  to  be  separated  by  reason  of  her  hus- 
band's unchaste  life,  let  her  consider,  that  then  the  man 
will  be  incurably  ruined,  and  her  rivals  could  v/ish  nothing 
more,  than  that  they  might  possess  him  alone. 

The  Duty  of  Masters  of  Families. 
1.  The  same  care  is  to  extend  to  all  of  our  family,  in 
their  proportions,  as  to  our  children  :  for  as,  by  St.  Paul's 
economy,  the  heir  differs  nothing  from  a  servant,  while  he 
is  in  minority,  so  a  servant  should  differ  nothing  from  a  child 
in  the  substantial  part  of  the  care ;  and  the  difference  is 
only  in  degrees.  Servants  and  masters  are  of  the  same 
kindred,  of  the  same  nature,  and  heirs  of  the  same  pro- 
raises ;  and  therefore,  1.  Must  be  provided  of  necessaries 
for  their  support  and  maintenance.  2.  They  must  be  used 
with  mercy.  3.  Their  work  must  be  tolerable  and  merci- 
ful. 4.  Their  restraints  must  be  reasonable.  5.  Their 
recreations  fitting  and  healthful.  6.  Their  religion  and 
the  interest  of  souls  taken  care  of.  7.  And  masters  must 
correct  their  servants  with  gentleness,  prudence,  and 
mercy  ;  not  for  every  slight  fault,  not  always,  not  with  up- 
braiding and  disgraceful  language,  but  with  such  only  as 
may  express  and  reprove  the  fault,  and  amend  the  person. 
But  in  all  these  things,  measures  arc  to  be  taken  by  the 
contract  made,  by  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  place,  by 


OF  CIVIL  CONTRACTS  143 

the  sentence  of  prudent  and  merciful  men,  and  by  the  cau- 
tions and  remembrances  given  us  by  God;  such  as  is  that 
written  by  St  Paul,  "  as  knowing-  that  we  also  have  a  Mas- 
ter in  heaven."  The  master  must  not  be  a  lion  in  his  house, 
lest  his  power  be  obeyed,  and  his  pei'son  hated ;  his  eye  be 
waited  on,  and  his  business  be  neglected  in  secret.  No  ser- 
vant will  do  hig  duty,  unless  he  make  a  conscience,  or  love 
his  master  :  if  he  does  it  not  for  God's  sake  or  his  master's, 
he  will  not  need  to  do  it  always  for  his  own. 

The  Duty  of  Guardians  or  Tutors. 

Tutors  and  guardians  are  in  the  place  of  parents  ;  and 
what  they  are  in  fiction  of  law,  they  must  remember  as  an 
argument  to  engage  them  to  do  in  reality  of  duty.  They 
must  do  all  the  duty  of  parents,  excepting  those  obligations 
which  are  merely  natural. 

IT  The  duty  of  ministers  and  spiritual  guides  to  the  people 
is  of  so  great  burden,  so  various  rules,  so  intricate  and 
busy  caution,  that  it  requires  a  distinct  tractate  by  itself. 

SECTION  III. 
Of  Negotiation^  or  Civil  Contracts. 
This  part  of  justice  is  such  as  depends  upon  the  laAvs  of 
man  directly,  and  upon  the  laws  of  God  only  by  conse- 
quence and  indirect  reason ;  and  from  civil  laws  or  private 
agreements  it  is  to  take   its  estimate   and  measures:  and 
although  our  duty  is  plain  and  easy,  requiring  of  us   ho- 
nesty in  contracts,  sincerity  in  affirming,  simplicity  in  bar- 
gaining,   and    faithfulness   in    performing;  yet   it  may   be' 
helped  by  the  addition  of  these  following  rules  and  consi- 
derations. 

Rules  and  Measures  of  Justice  in  Bargaining. 

1.  In  making  contrrxts,  use  not  many  words  ;  for  all  the 
business  of  a  bargain  is  summed  up  in  a  ^e\M  sentences;  and 
he  that  speaks  least,  means  fairest,  as  having  fewer  oppor- 
tunities to  deceive. 

2.  Lie  not  at  all,  neither  in  a  little  thing  nor  in  a  great, 
neither  in  the  substance  nor  in  the  circumstance,  neither 
in  word  nor  deed :  that  is,  pretend  not  wiiat  is  false  ;  cover 
not  what  is  true;  and  let  the  measure  of  your  affirmation 
or  denial  be  the  understanding  of  your  contractor ;  for  he 
that  deceives  the  buyer  or  the  seller  by  speaking  what  is 


144-  OF  CIVIL  CONTRACTS. 

true  in  a  sense  not  intended  or  understood  by  the  other,  is 
a  liar  and  a  thief.  For,  in  bargains,  you  are  to  avoid  not 
only  what  is  false,  but  that  also  which  deceives. 

3.  In  prices  of  bargaining,  concerning  uncertain  mer- 
chandise, you  may  buy  as  cheap,  ordinarily,  as  you  can  ; 
and  sell  as  dear  as  you  can,  so  it  be,  1,  without  violence; 
and  2,  when  you  contract  on  equal  terms  with  persons  in 
all  senses  (as  to  the  matter  and  skill  of  bargaining)  equal 
to  yourself,  that  is,  merchants  with  merchants,  v/ise  men 
with  wise  men,  rich  with  rich ;  and,  3,  when  there  is  no  de- 
ceit, and  no  necessity,  and  no  monopoly  :  for  in  these  cases, 
viz.  when  the  contractors  are  equal,  and  no  advantage  on 
either  side,  both  parties  are  voluntary,  and  therefore  there 
can  be  no  injustice  or  wrong  to  either.  But  then  add  also 
this  consideration,  that  the  public  be  not  oppressed  by  un- 
reasonable and  unjust  rates  ;  for  which,  the  following  rules 
are  the  best  measure. 

4.  Let  your  prices  be  according  to  that  measure  of 
good  and  evil,  which  is  established  in  the  fame  and  com- 
mon accounts  of  the  wisest  and  most  merciful  men,,  skilled 
in  that  manufacture  or  commodity  ;  and  the  gain  such, 
which,  without  scandal,  is  allowed  to  persons  in  all  the  same 
circumstances. 

5.  Let  no  prices  be  heightened  by  the  necessity  or  un- 
skilfulness  of  the  contractor ;  for  the  first  is  direct  uncha- 
ritableness  to  the  person,  and  injustice  in  the  thing;  be- 
cause the  man's  necessity  could  not  naturally  enter  into  the 
consideration  of  the  value  of  the  commodity ;  and  the  other 
is  deceit  and  oppression  :  much  less  must  any  man  make 
necessities ;  as  by  engrossing  a  commodity,  by  monopoly, 
by  detaining  corn,  or  the  like  indirect  arts;  for  such  per- 
sons arc  unjust  to  all  single  persons,  with  whom,  in  such 
cases,  they  contract,  and  oppressors  of  the  public. 

6.  In  intercourse  Avith  others,  do  not  do  all,  which  you 
may  lawfully  do  ;  but  keep  something  within  tliy  power ; 
and,  because  there  is  *a  latitude  of  gain  in  buying  and  sell- 
ing, take  not  thou  the  utmost  penny  that  is  lawful,  or  which 
thou  thinkest  so  ;  for  although  it  be  lawful,  yet  it  is  not  safe ; 
and  he  that  gains  all,  that  he  can  gain  lawfully,  this  year, 
possibly,  next  year,  will  be  tempted  to  gain  something  un- 
lawfully. 

7.  He  that  sells  dearer  by  reason  he  sells  not  for  ready 
money,  must  increase  his  price  no  higher,  than  to  make 


OF  CIVIL  CONTRACTS.  145 

)iimself  recompense  for  the  loss,  which,  according  to  the 
rules  of  trade,  he  sustained  by  his  forl)carance,  according 
to  common  computation,  reckoning  in  also  the  hazard, 
which  ho  is  prudently,  warily,  and  charitably,  to  estimate. 
But  although  this  be  the  measure  of  his  justice,  yet  be- 
<;ause  it  happens  either  to  their  friends,  or  to  necessitous 
and  poor  persons,  they  are,  in  these  cases,  to  consider  the 
rules  of  friendship  and  neighl)Ourhood,  and  the  obligations 
of  charity,  lest  justice  turn  into  unmercifulncss. 

8.  No  man  is  to  be  raised  in  his  price  or  rents  in  regard 
of  any  accident,  advantage,  or  disadvantage,  of  his  person. 
A  prince  must  be  used  conscionably,  as  well  as  a  common 
person  ;  and  a  beggar  be  treated  justly,  as  well  as  a  prince  ; 
with  this  only  difference,  that,  to  poor  persons,  the  utmost 
measure  and  extent  of  justice  is  unmerciful,  which,  to  a 
rich  person,  is  innocent,  because  it  is  just ;  and  he  needs  not 
thy  mercy  and  remission. 

9.  Let  no  man,  for  his  own  poverty,  become  more  op- 
pressing and  cruel  in  his  bargain,  but  quietly,  modestly, 
diligently,  and  patiently,  recommend  his  estate  to  God,  and 
follow  its  interest,  and  leave  the  success  to  him  :  for  such 
courses  will  more  probably  advance  his  trade ;  they  will 
certainly  procure  him  a  blessing  and  a  recompense  :  and, 
if  they  cure  not  his  poverty,  they  will  take  away  the  evil  of 
it ;  and  there  is  nothing  else  in  it,  that  can  trouble  him. 

10.  Detain  not  the  wages  of  the  hireling ;  for  every  de- 
gree of  detention  of  it  beyond  the  time  is  injustice  and  un- 
charitableness,  and  grinds  his  face,  till  tears  and  blood 
come  out :  but  pay  him  exactly  according  to  covenant,  or 
according  to  his  needs. 

11.  Religiously  keep  all  promises  and  covenants,  though 
made  to  your  disadvantage,  though  afterward  you  per- 
ceive you  might  have  done  better  :  and  let  not  any  prece- 
dent act  of  yours  be  altered  by  any  after-accident.  Let 
nothing  make  you  break  your  promise,  unless  it  be  unlaw- 
ful or  impossible  ;  that  is,  either  out  of  your  natural,  or 
out  of  your  civil  power,  yourself  being  under  the  power  of 
another ;  or  that  it  be  intolerably  inconvenient  to  yourself, 
and  of  no  advantage  to  another ;  or  that  you  have  leave 
expressed,  or  reasonably  presumed. 

12.  Let  no  man  take  wages  or  fees  for  a  work,  that  he 
cannot  do,  or  cannot  with  probability  undertake,  or  in  some 
sense  profitably,  and  with  ease,  or  with  advantage  manage. 

P 


146  OF  CIVIL  CONTRACTS. 

Physicians  must  not  meddle  with  desperate  diseases,  and 
known  to  be  incurable,  without  declaring  their  sense  be- 
fore-hand ;  that  if  the  patient  please,  he  may  entertain  him 
at  adventure,  or  to  do  him  some  little  ease,  ildvocates 
must  deal  plainly  with  their  clients,  and  tell  them  the  true 
state  and  danger  of  their  case  ;  and  must  not  pretend  con- 
fidence in  an  evil  cause  ;  but  when  he  hath  so  cleared  his 
own  innocence,  if  the  client  will  have  collateral  and  legal 
advantages  obtained  by  his  industry,  he  may  engage  his 
endeavour,  provided  he  do  no  injury  to  the  right  cause,  or 
any  man's  person. 

13.  Let  no  man  appropriate  to  his  own  use,  what  God, 
by  a  special  mercy,  or  the  republic,  hath  made  common  J 
for  that  is  both  against  justice  and  charity  too:  and,  by 
miraculous  accidents,  God  hath  declared  his  displeasure 
against  such  enclosure.  When  the  kings  of  Naples  en- 
closed the  gardens  of  CEnotria,  when  the  best  manna  of 
Calabria  descends,  that  no  man  might  gather  it  without 
paying  tribute,  the  manna  ceased,  till  the  tribute  was  taken 
oft';  and  then  it  came  again:  and  so,  when  after  the  third 
trial,  the  princes  found  they  could  not  have  that  in  proper, 
which  God  made  to  be  common,  they  left  it  as  free  as  God 
gave  it.  The  like  happened  in  Epire,  when  Lysimachus 
laid  an  impost  upon  the  Tragasaean  salt,  it  vanished,  till 
Lysimachus  left  it  public.  And  when  the  procurators  of 
Jving  Antigonus  imposed  a  rate  upon  the  sick  people,  that 
came  to  Edepsum  to  drink  the  waters,  which  were  lately 
sprung,  and  were  very  healthful,  instantly  the  waters  dried 
up,  and  the  hope  of  gain  perished. 

The  sum  of  all  is  in  these  words  of  St.  Paul,  "  Let  no 
man  go  beyond  and  defraud  his  brother,  in  any  matter  ; 
because  tho  Lord  is  the  avenger  of  all  such."*  And  our 
blessed  Saviour,  in  the  enumerating  the  duties  of  justice, 
besides  the  commandment  of  "  Do  not  steal,"  adds,  "  De- 
fraud not,"f  forbidding  (as  a  distinct  explication  of  the  old 
law)  the  tacit  and  secret  theft  of  abusing  our  brother  in 
civil  contracts.  And  it  needs  no  other  argument  to  en- 
force this  caution,  but  only,  that  the  Lord  hath  undertaken 
to  avenge  all  such  persons.  And  as  he  always  does  it  in 
the  great  day  of  recompenses  ;  so  very  often  he  does  it 
here,  by  making  the  unclean  portion  of  injustice  to  be  as  a 
canker-worm  eating  up  all  the  other  increase :  it  procures 
*  1  Thess.  iv.  6.  t  Lev.  xix.  13,    1  Cor.  vi.  8.    Mat.  x.  19. 


OF  RESTITUTION.  147 

beggary,  and  a  declining  estate,  or  a  caitiffcursed  spirit,  an 
ill  name,  the  curse  of  the  injured  and  oppressed  person,  and 
a  fool  or  a  prodigal  to  be  his  heir. 

SECTION  IV. 

Of  Restitution. 
Restitution  is  that  part  of  justice,  to  which  a  man  is 
obliged  by  a  precedent  contract,  or  a  foregoing  fault,  by 
his  own  act  or  another  man's,  either  with  or  witliout  his 
will.  He  that  borrows,  is  bound  to  pay,  and  much  more 
he  that  steals  or  cheats.  For  if  he  that  borrows,  and  pa^'s 
not  when  he  is  able,  be  an  unjust  person  and  a  robber,  be- 
cause he  possesses  another  man's  goods,  to  the  right 
owner's  prejudice  ;  then  he,  that  took  them  at  first  without 
leave,  is  the  same  thing  in  every  instant  of  his  possession, 
which  the  debtor  is  after  the  time,  in  which  he  should,  and 
could,  have  made  payment.  For,  in  all  sins,  we  are  to  dis- 
tinguish the  transient  or  passing  act  from  the  remaining 
effect  or  evil.  The  act  of  stealing  was  soon  over,  and  can- 
not be  undone  :  and  for  it  the  sinner  is  only  answerable  to 
God,  or  his  vicegerent ;  and  he  is,  in  a  particular  manner, 
appointed  to  expiate  it  by  suffering  punishment,  and  re- 
penting, and  asking  pardon,  and  judging  and  condemning 
himself,  doing  acts  of  justice  and  charity,  in  opposition  and 
contradiction  to  that  evil  action.  But  because,  in  the  case 
of  stealing,  there  is  an  injury  done  to  our  neighbour  ;  and 
the  evil  still  remains  after  the  action  is  past ;  therefore  for 
this  we  are  accountable  to  our  neighbour,  and  we  are  to 
take  the  evil  oft"  from  him,  which  we  brought  upon  him ;  or 
else  he  is  an  injured  person,  a  sufferer  all  the  while  ;  and 
that  any  man  should  be  the  worse  for  me,  and  my  direct 
act,  and  by  my  intention,  is  against  the  rule  of  equity,  of 
justice,  and  of  charity ;  I  do  not  that  to  others,  which  I 
would  have  done  to  myself;  for  I  grow  richer  upon  the 
ruins  of  his  fortune.  Upon  this  ground,  it  is  a  determined 
rule  in  divinity,  "Our  sin  can  never  be  pardoned,  till  we 
have  restored  what  we  unjustly  took,  or  wrongfully  detain  :" 
restored  it  (I  mean)  actually,  or  in  purpose  and  desire,  which 
we  must  really  perform,  when  we  can.  And  this  doctrine, 
besides  its  evident  and  apparent  reasonableness,  is  derived 
from  the  express  words  of  Scripture,  reckoning  restitution 
to  be  a  part  of  repentance  necessary  in  order  to  the  remis- 
sion of  our  sins.     "  If  the  wicked  restore  the  pledo^e,  give 


148  OF  RESTITUTION. 

again  that  he  had  robbed,  &;c.  he  shall  surely  live,  he  shall 
not  die."*  The  practice  of  this  part  of  justice  is  to  be  di- 
rected by  the  following  rules. 

Rides  of  making  Restitution. 

1.  Whosoever  is  an  effective  real  cause  of  doing  his 
neighbour  wrong,  by  what  instrument  soever  he  does  it, 
(whether  by  commanding,  or  encouraging  it,  by  coun- 
selling, or  commending  it,  by  acting  it,  or  not  hindering  it, 
when  he  might  and  ought,  by  concealing  it  or  receiving  it,) 
is  bound  to  make  restitution  to  his  neighbour  ;  if,  without 
him,  the  injury  had  not  been  done,  but,  by  him  or  his  as- 
sistance, it  was.  For,  by  the  same  reason,  that  every  one 
of  these  is  guilty  of  the  sin,  and  is  cause  of  the  injury,  by 
the  same  they  are  bound  to  make  reparation  ;  because  by 
him  his  neighbour  is  made  worse,  and  therefore  is  to  be 
put  into  that  state,  from  whence  he  was  forced.  And  sup- 
pose that  thou  hast  persuaded  an  injury  to  be  done  to  thy 
neighbour,  which  others  would  have  persuaded,  if  thou 
hadst  not,  yet  thou  art  still  obliged,  because  thou  really 
didst  cause  the  injury ;  just  as  they  had  been  obliged,  if 
they  had  done  it :  and  thou  art  not  at  all  the  less  bound,  by 
having  persons  as  ill-inclined  as  thou  wert. 

2.  He,  that  commanded  the  injury  to  be  done,  is  first 
bound  ;  then  he,  that  did  it ;  and  after  these,  they  also  are 
obliged,  who  did  so  assist,  as  without  them  the  thing  would 
not  have  been  done.  If  satisfaction  be  made  by  any  of  the 
former,  the  latter  is  tied  to  repentance,  but  no  restitution : 
but  if  the  injured  person  be  not  righted,  every  one  of  them 
is  wholly  guilty  of  the  injustice ;  and  therefore  bound  to 
restitution,  singly  and  entirely. 

3.  Whosoever  intends  a  little  injury  to  his  neighbour, 
and  acts  it,  and  by  it  a  greater  evil  accidentally  comes,  he 
is  obliged  to  make  an  entire  reparation  of  all  the  injury,  of 
that,  which  he  intended ;  and  of  that,  which  he  intended 
not,  but  yet  acted  by  his  own  instrument  going  further 
than  he  at  first  proposed  it.  He  that  set  fire  on  a  plane- 
tree  to  spite  his  neighbour,  and  the  plane-tree  set  fire  on 
his  neighbour's  house,  is  bound  to  pay  for  all  the  loss,  be- 
cause it  did  all  rise  from  his  own  ill  intention.  It  is  like 
murder,  committed  by  a  drunken  person,  involuntary  in 
some  of  the  effect,  but  voluntary  in   the  other  parts  of  it, 

*  Ezek.  xxsiii.  15. 


OF  RESTITUTION.  149 

and  ill  all  the  cause  ;  and  therefore  the  guilty  person  is 
answerable  for  all  of  it.  And  when  Ariarathes,  the  Cap- 
padocian  king,  had,  but  in  wantonness,  stopped  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Melanus,  although  he  intended  no  evil,  yet 
Euphrates  being  swelled  by  that  means,  and  bearing  away 
some  of  the  strand  of  Cappadocia,  did  great  spoil  to  the  Phry- 
gians and  Galatians ;  he,  therefore,  by  the  Roman  senate, 
was  condemned  in  three  hundred  talents,  towards  reparation 
of  the  damage.  Much  rather,  therefore,  when  the  lesser 
part  of  the  evil  was  directly  intended. 

4.  He,  that  hinders  a  charitable  person  from  giving  alms 
to  a  poor  man,  is  tied  to  restitution,  if  he  hindered  him  by 
fraud  or  violence ;  because  it  was  a  right  which  the  poor 
man  had,  when  the  good  man  had  designed  and  resolved 
it,  and  the  fraud  or  violence  hinders  the  effect,  but  not  the 
purpose  ;  and  therefore  he,  who  used  the  deceit  or  the  force, 
is  injurious,  and  did  damage  to  the  poor  man.  But  if  the 
alms  were  hindered  only  by  entreaty,  the  hinderer  is  not 
tied  to  restitution,  because  entreaty  took  not  liberty  away 
from  the  giver,  but  left  him  still  master  of  his  own  act,  and 
he  had  power  to  alter  his  purpose,  and  so  long  there  was  no 
injustice  done.  The  same  is  the  case  of  a  testator  giving  a 
legacy,  either  by  kindness,  or  by  promise,  and  common 
right.  He,  that  hinders  the  charitable  legacy  by  fraud  or 
violence,  or  the  due  legacy  by  entreaty,  is  equally  obliged 
to  restitution.  The  reason  of  the  latter  part  of  this  case  is, 
because  he,  that  entreats  or  persuades  to  a  sin,  is  as  guilty 
as  he  that  acts  it :  and  if,  without  his  persuasion,  the  sin 
and  the  injury  would  not  be  acted,  he  is  in  his  kind  the 
entire  cause,  and  therefore  obliged  to  repair  the  injury,  as 
much  as  the  person  that  does  the  wrong  immediately. 

5.  He  that  refuses  to  do  any  part  of  his  duty  (to  which 
he  is  otherwise  obliged)  without  a  bribe,  is  bound  to  re- 
store that  money,  because  he  took  it  in  his  neighbour's 
wrong,  and  not  as  a  salary  for  his  labour,  or  a  reward  for 
his  wisdom  (for  his  stipend  hath  paid  all  that,)  or  he  hath 
obliged  himself  to  do  it  by  his  voluntary  undertaking. 

6.  He  that  takes  any  thing  from  his  neighbour,  which 
was  justly  forfeited,  but  yet  takes  it  not  as  a  minister  of 
justice,  but  to  satisfy  his  own  revenge  or  avarice,  is  tied  to 
repentance,  but  not  to  restitution.  For  my  neighbour  is 
not  the  worse  for  my  act,  for  thither  the  law  and  his  own 
demerits  bore  him;  but  because  I  took  the  forfeiture  indi- 

p2 


150  Of  RESTITUTION. 

rectly,  I  am  answerable  to  God  for  my  unhandsome,  unjust, 
or  uncharitable  circumstances.  Thus  Philip  of  Macedon 
was  reproved  by  Aristides  for  destroying  the  Phocenses  ; 
because  although  they  deserved  it,  yet  he  did  it  not  in  pro- 
secution of  the  law  of  nations,  but  to  enlarge  his  own  do- 
minions. 

7.  The  heir  of  an  obliged  person  is  not  bound  to  make 
restitution,  if  the  obligation  passed  only  by  a  personal  act ; 
but,  if  it  passed  from  his  person  to  his  estate,  then  the 
estate  passes  with  all  its  burden.  If  the  father,  by  per- 
suading his  neighbour  to  do  injustice,  be  bound  to  restore, 
the  action  is  extinguished  by  the  death  of  the  father,  be- 
cause it  was  only  the  father's  sin  that  bound  him,  which 
cannot  directly  bind  the  son  :  therefore  the  son  is  free. 
And  this  is  so  in  all  personal  actions,  unless  where  the  civil 
law  interposes  and  alters  the  case. 

IT  Thess  rules  concern  the  persons  that  are  obliged  to  make 
restitution  :  the  other  circumstances  of  it  are  thus 
described. 

8.  He,  that  by  fact,  or  word,  or  sign,  either  fraudulently, 
or  violently,  does  hurt  to  his  neighbour's  body,  life,  goods, 
good  name,  friends,  or  soul,  is  bound  to  make  restitution 
in  the  several  instances,  according  as  they  are  capable  to 
be  made.  In  all  these  instances,  we  must  separate  en- 
treaty and  enticements  from  deceit  or  violence.  If  I  per- 
suade my  neighbour  to  commit  adultery,  I  still  leave  him 
or  her  in  their  own  power :  and  though  I  am  answerable  to 
God  for  my  sin,  yet  not  to  my  neighbour.  For  I  made  her 
to  be  willing;  yet  she  was  willing,  that  is,  the  same  at 
last,  as  I  was  at  first.  But  if  I  have  used  fraud,  and  made 
her  to  believe  a  lie,  upon  which  confidence  she  did  the  act, 
and,  without,  she  would  not  (as  if  I  tell  a  woman,  her  hus- 
band is  dead,  or  intended  to  kill  her,  or  is  himself  an  adul- 
terous man,)  or  if  I  use  violence,  that  is,  either  force  her, 
or  threaten  her  with  death,  or  a  grievous  wound,  or  any 
thing,  that  takes  her  from  the  liberty  of  her  choice,  I  am 
bound  to  restitution  ;  that  is,  to  restore  her  to  a  right  un- 
derstanding of  things  and  to  a  full  liberty,  by  taking  from 
her  the  deceit  or  the  violence. 

9.  An  adulterous  person  is  tied  to  restitution  of  the  m- 
jury,  so  far  as  it  is  reparable,  and  can  be  made  to  the 
wronged  person ;  that  is,  to  make  provision  for  the  chil- 


OF  RESTITUTIOiX.  151 

dren  begotten  m  unlawful  embraces,  that  they  may  do  no 
injury  to  the  legitimate,  by  receiving  a  common  portion; 
and,  if  tlie  injured  person  do  account  of  it,  he  must  satisfy 
him  with  money,  for  the  wrong  done  to  his  bed.  He  is 
not  tied  to  offer  this,  because  it  is  no  proper  exchange ; 
but  he  is  bound  to  pay,  if  it  be  reasonably  demanded :  for 
every  man  hath  justice  done  him,  when  himself  is  satisfied, 
though  by  a  word,  or  an  action,  or  a  penny. 

10.  He  that  hath  killed  a  man,  is  bound  to  restitution, 
by  allowing  such  a  maintenance  to  the  children  and  near 
relatives  of  the  deceased,  as  they  have  lost  by  his  death, 
considering  and  allowing  for  all  circumstances  of  the  man's 
age,  and  health,  and  probability  of  living.  And  thus  Her- 
cules is  said  to  have  made  expiation  for  the  death  of  Iphi- 
tus,  whom  he  slew,  by  paying  a  mulct  to  his  children. 

11.  He  that  hath  really  lessened  the  fame  of  his  neigh- 
bour by  fraud  or  violence,  is  bound  to  restore  it  by  its  proper 
instruments;  such  as  are  confession  of  his  fault,  giving 
testimony  of  his  innocence  or  worth,  doing  him  honour,  or 
(if  that  will  do  it,  and  both  parties  agree)  by  money,  which 
answers  all  things. 

12.  He  that  hath  wounded  his  neighbour,  is  tied  to  the 
expenses  of  the  surgeon  and  other  incidences,  and  to  repair 
whatever  loss  he  sustains  by  his  disability  to  work  or  trade 
and  the  same  is  in  the  case  of  false  imprisonment ;  in  which 
cases  only  the  real  effect  and  remaining  detriment  are  to 
be  mended  and  repaired :  for  the  action  itself  is  to  be  pu- 
nished or  repented  of,  and  enters  not  into  the  question  of 
restitution.  But,  in  these  and  all  other  cases,  the  injured 
person  is  to  be  restored  to  that  perfect  and  good  condition, 
from  which  he  was  removed  by  my  fraud  or  violence,  so  far 
as  is  possible.  Thus  a  ravisher  must  repair  the  temporal 
detriment  or  injury  done  to  the  maid,  and  give  her  a  dowry, 
or  marry  her,  if  she  desire  it.  For  this  restores  her  into 
that  capacity  of  being  a  good  wife,  which  by  the  injury  was 
lost,  as  far  as  it  can  be  done. 

13.  He,  that  robbeth  his  neighbour  of  his  goods,  or  de- 
tains any  thing  violently  or  fraudulently,  is  bound  not  only 
to  restore  the  principal,  but  all  its  fruits  and  emoluments, 
which  would  have  accrued,  to  the  right  owner,  during  the 
time  of  their  being  detained.  By  proportion  to  these  rules, 
we  may  judge  of  the  obligation  that  lies  upon  all  sorts  of 
injurious  persons  :  the  sacrilegious,  the  detainers  of  tithes, 


152 


OF  RESTITUTION. 


cheaters  of  men's  inheritances,  unjust  judges,  false  witnesses 
and  accusers ;  those,  that  do  fiaudulently  or  violently  bring 
men  to  sin,  that  force  men  to  drink,  that  laugh  at  and  dis- 
grace virtue,  that  persuade  servants  to  run  away,  or  com- 
mend such  purposes;  violent  persecutors  of  religion  in  any 
instance;  and  all  of  the  same  nature. 

14.  He,  that  hath  wronged  so  many,  or  in  that  manner 
(as  in  the  way  of  daily  trade,)  that  he  knows  not  in  what 
measure  he  hath  done  it,  or  who  they  are,  must  redeem  his 
fault  by  alms  and  largesses  to  the  poor,  according  to  the 
value  of  his  wrongful  dealing,  as  near  as  he  can  proportion 
it.  Better  it  is  to  go  begging  to  heaven,  than  to  go  to  hell, 
laden  with  the  spoils  of  rapine  and  injustice. 

15.  The  order  of  paying  the  debts  of  contract  or  restitu- 
tion, is,  in  some  instances,  set  down  by  the  civil  laws  of  a 
kingdom,  in  which  cases,  their  rule  is  to  be  observed.  In 
destitution  or  want  of  such  rules,  we  are,  1,  to  observe  the 
necessity  of  the  creditor;  2,  then  the  time  of  the  delay; 
and  3,  the  special  obligations  of  friendship  or  kindness ; 
and  according  to  these,  in  their  several  degrees,  make  our 
restitution,  if  we  be  not  able  to  do  all  that  we  should ;  but, 
if  we  be,  the  best  rule  is,  to  do  it  so  soon  as  we  can ;  taking 
our  accounts  in  this,  as  in  our  human  actions,  according  to 
prudence,  and  civil  or  natural  conveniences  or  possi- 
bilities; only  securing  these  two  things:  1.  That  the  duty 
be  not  wholly  omitted ;  and,  2.  That  it  be  not  deferred 
at  all  out  of  covetousness,  or  any  other  principle  that  is 
vicious.  Remember,  that  the  same  day,  in  which  Zaccheus 
made  restitution  to  all  whom  he  had  injured,  the  same  day 
Christ  himself  pronounced,  that  salvation  was  come  to  his 
house.* 

16.  But,  besides  the  obligation  arising  from  contract  or 
default,  there  is  one  of  another  sort,  which  comes  from  kind- 
ness, and  the  acts  of  charity  and  friendship.  He,  that  does 
me  a  favour,  hath  bound  me  to  make  him  a  return  of  thank- 
fulness. The  obligation  comes  not  by  covenant ;  not  by  his 
own  express  intention,  but  by  the  nature  of  the  thing ;  and  is 
a  duty  springing  up  within  the  spirit  of  the  obliged  per- 
son, to  whom  it  is  more  natural  to  love  his  friend,  and  to 
do  good  for  good,  than  to  return  evil  for  evil;  because  a 
man  may  forgive  an  injury,  but  he  must  never  forget  a 
good  turn.     For  every  thing  that  is  excellent,  and  every 

*  Luke  xix.  9. 


PRAYERS,  ETC.  153 

thing  that  is  profitable,  whatsoever  is  i^ood  in  itself,  or  good 
to  me,  cannot  but  be  beloved  ;  and  what  we  love,  we  na- 
turally cherish,  and  do  good  to.  He,  therefore,  that  refuses 
to  do  good  to  them,  whom  he  is  bound  to  love,  or  to  love 
that  which  did  him  good,  is  unnatural  and  monstrous  in  his 
affections,  and  thinks  all  the  world  born  to  minister  to  him, 
with  a  greediness  worse  than  that  of  the  sea  :  which  although 
it  receives  all  rivers  into  itself,  yet  it  furnishes  the  clouds 
and  springs  with  a  return  of  all  they  need. 

Our  duty  to  benefactors  is  to  esteem  and  love  their  per- 
sons ;  to  make  them  proportionable  returns  of  service,  or 
duty,  or  profit,  according  as  we  can,  or  as  they  need,  or 
as  opportunity  presents  itself,  and  according  to  the  great- 
nesses of  their  kindness,  and  to  pray  to  God  to  make  them 
recompense  for  all  the  goods  they  have  done  to  us ;  which 
last  office  is  also  requisite  to  be  done  for  our  creditors,  who, 
in  charity,  have  relieved  our  wants. 

Prayers  to  he  said  in  relation  to  the  several  obligations 
and  offices  of  Justice. 

A  Prayer  for  the  Grace  of  Obedience,  to  be  said  by  all 
Persons  under  command. 

O  eternal  God,  great  ruler  of  men  and  angels,  who  hast 
constituted  all  things  in  a  wonderful  order,  making  all  the 
creatures  subject  to  man,  and  one  man  to  another,  and  all 
to  thee,  the  last  link  of  this  admirable  chain  being  fastened 
to  the  foot  of  thy  throne ;  teach  me  to  obey  all  those, 
whom  thou  hast  set  over  me,  reverencing  their  persons,  sub- 
mitting indifferently  to  all  their  lawful  commands,  cheer- 
fully undergoing  those  burdens  which  the  public  wisdom 
and  necessity  shall  impose  upon  me ;  at  no  hand  murmur- 
ing against  government,  lest  the  spirit  of  pride  and  mutiny, 
of  murmur  and  disorder,  enter  into  me,  and  consign  me  to 
the  portion  of  the  disobedient  and  rebellious,  of  the  des- 
pisers  of  dominion,  and  revilers  of  dignity.  Grant  this,  O 
holy  God,  for  his  sake,  who,  for  his  obedience  to  the  Father, 
hath  obtained  the  glorification  of  eternal  ages,  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.    Amen. 

Prayers  for  Kings  and  all  Magistrates,  for  our  Parents, 
spiritual  and  natural,  are  in  the  following  Litanies,  at  the 
end  of  the  fourth  Chapter. 


154  PRAYERS  RELATING  TO 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  Subjects,  ivJien  their  Land  is  inva- 
ded and  overrun  by  barbarous  or  icicked  People^  enemies 
of  the  Religion  or  the  Government. 

I. 

O  eternal  God,  thou  alone  nilest  the  kingdoms  of  men  ; 
thou  art  the  great  God  of  battles  and  recompenses;  and  by 
thy  glorious  wisdom,  by  thy  almighty  power,  and  by 
thy  secret  providence,  dost  determine  the  events  of  war, 
and  the  issues  of  human  counsels,  and  the  returns  of  peace 
and  victory  :  now  at  last  be  pleased  to  let  the  light  of  thy 
countenance,  and  the  effects  of  a  glorious  mercy  and  a  gra- 
cious pardon,  return  to  this  land.  Thou  seest,  how  great 
evils  we  sulier  under  the  power  and  tyranny  of  Avar ;  and, 
although  we  submit  to  and  adore  thy  justice  in  our  suffer- 
ings, yet  be  pleased  to  pity  our  misery,  to  hear  our  com- 
plaints, and  to  provide  us  of  remedy  against  our  present  ca- 
lamities :  let  not  the  defenders  of  a  righteous  cause  go  away 
ashamed,  nor  our  counsels  be  for  ever  confounded,  nor  our 
parties  defeated,  nor  religion  suppressed,  nor  learning  dis- 
countenanced, and  we  be  spoiled  of  all  the  exterior  orna- 
ments,  instruments,  and  advantages  of  piety,  which  thou 
hast  been  pleased  formerly  to  minister  to  our  infirmities,  for 
the  interest  of  learning  and  religion.     Amen. 

II. 

We  confess,  dear  God,  that  we  have  deserved  to  be  to- 
tally extinct  and  separate  from  the  communion  of  saints, 
and  the  comforts  of  religion,  to  be  made  servants  to  igno- 
rant, unjust,  and  inferior  persons,  or  to  suffer  any  other 
calamity,  which  thou  shalt  allot  us  as  the  instrument  of  thy 
anger,  whom  we  have  so  often  provoked  to  wrath  and  jea- 
lousy. Lord,  we  humbly  lie  down  under  the  burden  of  thy 
rod,  begging  of  thee  to  remember  our  infirmities,  and  no 
more  to  remember  our  sins,  to  support  us  with  thy  staff*,  to 
lift  us  up  with  thy  hand,  to  refresh  us  with  thy  gracious  eye; 
and,  if  a  sad  cloud  of  temporal  infelicities  must  still  encir- 
cle us,  open  unto  us  the  window  of  heaven,  that,  with  an 
eye  of  faith  and  hope,  we  may  see  beyond  the  cloud,  look- 
ing upon  those  mercies,  which  in  thy  secret  providence  and 
admirable  wisdom,  thou  designest  to  all  thy  servants,  from 
such  unlikely  and  sad  beginnings.  Teach  us  diligently 
to  do  all  our  duty,  and  cheerfully  to  submit  to  all  thy  will; 
and,  at  last,  be  gracious  to  thy  people,  that  call  upon  thee. 


THE  DrjTIRS  OF  JUSTICE.  I55 

that  put  their  trust  in  thee,  tliat  havo  laid  up  all  their  hopes 
in  the  bosom  of  God,  that,  besides  thee,  have  no  helper. 
Amen. 

in. 

Place  a  guard  of  angels  about  the  person  of  the  king 
and  immure  him  with  the  defence  of  thy  right  hand,  that 
no  unhallowed  arm  may  do  violence  to  him.  Support 
him  with  aids  from  heaven  in  all  his  battles,  trials,  and 
dangers  ;  that  he  may,  in  every  instance  of  his  temptation, 
become  dearer  to  thee  ;  and  do  thou  return  to  him  Avith 
mercy  and  deliverance.  Give  unto  him  the  hearts  of  all 
his  people  ;  and  put  into  his  hand  a  prevailing  rod  of  iron, 
a  sceptre  of  j)ower,  and  a  sword  of  justice  ;  and  enable  him 
to  defend  and  comfort  the  churches  under  his  protection. 

IV. 

Bless  all  his  friends,  relatives,  confederates,  and  lieges ; 
direct  their  counsels,  unite  their  hearts,  strengthen  their 
hands,  bless  their  actions.  Give  unto  them  holiness  of 
intention,  that  they  may,  with  much  candour  and  ingenu- 
ity, pursue  the  cause  of  God  and  the  king.  Sanctify  all 
the  means  and  instruments  of  their  purposes,  that  they 
may  not,  with  cruelty,  injustice,  or  oppression,  proceed 
towards  the  end  of  their  just  desires  :  and  do  thou  crown 
all  their  endeavours  with  a  prosperous  event,  that  all  may 
co-operate  to,  and  actually  produce,  those  great  mercies, 
which  we  beg  of  thee  ;  honour  and  safety  to  our  sovereign, 
defence  of  his  just  rights,  peace  to  his  people,  establish- 
ment and  promotion  to  religion,  advantages  and  encour- 
agement to  learning  and  holy  living,  deliverance  to  all  the 
oppressed,  comfort  to  all  thy  faithful  people,  and  from  all 
these,  glory  to  thy  holy  name.  Grant  this,  O  King  of  kings, 
for  his  sake,  by  whom  thou  hast  consigned  us  to  all  thy 
mercies  and  promises,  and  to  whom  thou  hast  given  all  pow- 
er in  heaven  and  earth,  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ. 
Amen. 

A  Prayer  to  he  said  by  Kings  or  Magistrates,  for 

themselves  and  their  People. 

O  my  God  and  King,  thou  rulest  in  the  kingdoms  of 

men  :  by  thee   kings  reign,  and  princes  decree  justice : 

thou  hast  appointed  me  under  thyself  [and  under  my  prince*^ 

to  govern  this  portion  of  thy  church,  according  to  the  laws 

*  These  words  to  be  added  by  a  delegate  or  inferior. 


156  PRAYERS  RELATING  TO 

of  religion  and  the  commonwealth.  O  Lord,  I  am  but  an 
infirm  man,  and  know  not  how  to  decree  certain  sentences 
without  erring-  in  judgment;  but  do  thou  give  to  thy  servant 
an  understanding  heart  to  judge  this  people,  that  I  may  dis- 
cern between  good  and  evil.  Cause  me  to  walk,  before 
thee  and  all  the  people,  in  truth  and  righteousness,  and 
in  sincerity  of  heart,  that  I  may  not  regard  the  person  of 
the  mighty,  nor  be  afraid  of  his  terror,  nor  despise  the 
person  of  the  poor,  and  reject  his  petition  ;  but  that,  doing 
justice  to  all  men,  I,  and  my  people,  may  receive  mercy  of 
thee,  peace  and  plenty  in  our  days,  and  mutual  love,  duty, 
and  correspondence  ;  that  there  be  no  leading  into  capti- 
vity, no  complaining  in  our  streets ;  but  we  may  see  the 
church  in  prosperity  all  our  days,  and  religion  established 
and  increasing.  Do  thou  establish  the  house  of  thy  ser- 
vant, and  bring  me  to  a  participation  of  the  glories  of  thy 
kingdom  for  his  sake,  who  is  my  Lord  and  King,  the  holy 
and  ever  blessed  Saviour  of  the  world,  our  redeemer,  Jesus. 
Amen. 

A  Prayer  to  he  said  by  Parents  for  their  Children. 

O  almighty  and  most  merciful  Father,  who  hast  promised 
children  as  a  reward  to  the  righteous,  and  hast  given  them 
to  me  as  a  testimony  of  thy  mercy,  and  an  engagement  of 
my  duty  ;  be  pleased  to  be  a  father  unto  them,  and  give 
them  healthful  bodies,  understanding  souls,  and  sanctified 
spirits,  that  they  may  be  thy  servants  and  children,  all 
their  days.  Let  a  great  mercy  and  providence  lead  them 
through  the  dangers  and  temptations  and  ignorances  of 
their  youth,  that  they  may  never  run  into  folly,  and  the 
evils  of  an  unbridled  appetite.  So  order  the  accidents  of 
their  lives,  that,  by  good  education,  careful  tutors,  holy 
example,  innocent  company,  prudent  counsel,  and  thy  re- 
straining grace,  their  duty  to  thee  may  be  secured  in  the 
midst  of  a  crooked  and  untoward  generation  :  and  if  it  seem 
good  in  thy  eyes,  let  me  be  enabled  to  provide  conveniently 
for  the  support  of  their  persons,  that  they  may  not  be  des- 
titute and  miserable  in  my  death ;  or  if  thou  shalt  call  me 
off  from  this  world  by  a  more  timely  summons,  let  their 
portion  be,  thy  care,  mercy,  providence,  over  their  bodies 
and  souls :  and  may  they  never  live  vicious  lives,  nor  die 
violent  or  untimely  deaths ;  but  let  them  glorify  thee  here 
with  a  free  obedience,  and  the  duties  of  a  whole  life ;  that, 


THE  DUTIES  OF  JUSTICE.  157 

when  they  have  served  thee  in  their  frenerations,  and 
have  profited  the  Christian  coinrnornvealth,  they  may  be 
coheirs  with  Jesus,  in  the  glories  of  thy  eternal  kingdom, 
through  the  same  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 

^4  Prayer  to  he  said  hy  Masters  of  Families^  Curates,  Tutors, 
or  other  obliged  Persons,  for  their  charges. 

O  ahnighty  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  have  mercy 
upon  my  family,  [or  pupils,  or  parishioners,  &c.]  and  -all 
committed  to  my  charge  :  sanctify  them  with  thy  grace, 
preserve  them  with  thy  providence,  guard  them  from  all 
evil  by  the  custody  of  angels,  direct  them  in  the  ways  of 
peace  and  holy  religion  by  my  ministry  and  the  conduct  of 
thy  most  Holy  Spirit,  and  consign  them  all,  with  the  par- 
ticipation of  thy  blessings  and  graces  in  this  world,  with 
ftealthful  bodies,  w^th  good  understandings,  and  sanctified 
spirits,  to  a  full  fruition  of  thy  glories  hereafter,  through 
Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  by  Merchants,  Tradesmen,  and 
Handicraftsmen. 

O  eternal  God,  thou  fountain  of  justice,  mercy  and 
benediction,  who,  by  my  education  and  other  effects  of 
thy  providence  hast  called  me  to  this  profession,  that,  by 
my  industry,  I  may,  in  my  small  proportion,  w^ork  together 
for  the  good  of  myself  and  others  ;  I  humbly  beg  thy  grace 
to  guide  me  in  my  intention,  and  in  the  transaction  of  my 
aflairs,  that  I  may  be  diligent,  just,  and  faithful :  and  give 
me  thy  favour,  that  this  my  labour  may  be  accepted  by  thee 
as  a  part  of  my  necessary  duty  :  and  give  me  thy  blessing  to 
assist  and  prosper  me  in  my  calling,  to  such  measures,  as 
thou  shalt.  in  mercy,  choose  for  me  :  and  be  pleased  to  let 
thy  Holy  Spirit  be  for  ever  present  with  me,  that  I  may 
never  be  given  to  covetousness  and  sordid  appetites,  to 
lying  or  falsehood,  or  any  other  base,  indirect,  and  beggar- 
ly arts;  but  give  me  prudence,  honesty,  and  Christian  sin- 
cerity, that  my  trade  may  be  sanctified  by  my  religion ;  my 
labour,  by  my  intention  and  thy  blessing ;  that,  when  I  have 
done  my  portion  of  work  thou  hast  allotted  me,  and  improv- 
ed the  talent  thou  hast  intrusted  to  me,  and  served  the 
commonwealth  in  my  capacity;  I  may  receive  the  mighty 
price  of  my  high  calling,  which  I  expect  and  beg,  in  the 
portion  and  inheritance  of  the  ever  blessed  Saviour  and 
Redeemer,  Jesus.     Amen. 

Q 


158  PRAYERS,  ETC. 

A  Prayer  to  he  said  hy  Debtors,  and  all  Persons  obliged^ 
whether  by  crime  or  contracts 

O  almighty  God,  who  art  rich  unto  all,  the  treasury  and 
fountain  of  all  good,  of  all  justice,  and  all  mercy,  and  all 
bounty,  and  to  whom  we  owe  all,  that  we  are,  and  all 
that  we  have,  being  thy  debtors  by  reason  of  our  sins,  and 
by  thy  own  gracious  contract,  made  with  us  in  Jesus 
Christ ;  teach  me,  in  the  first  place,  to  perform  all  my  obli- 
gations to  thee,  both  of  duty  and  thankfulness ;  and  next, 
enable  me  to  pay  my  duty  to  all  my  friends,  and  my  debts 
to  all  my  creditors,  that  none  be  made  miserable  or  les- 
sened in  his  estate  by  his  kindness  to  me,  or  traffic  with 
me.  Forgive  me  all  those  sins  and  irregular  actions,  by 
which  I  entered  into  debt  farther  than  my  necessity  re- 
quired, or  by  which  such  necessity  was  brought  upon  me  ; 
but  let  not  them  suffer  by  occasion  of  my  sin.  Lord  re- 
ward all  their  kindness  into  their  bosoms,  and  make  them 
recompense,  where  I  cannot ;  and  make  me  very  willing 
in  all  that  I  can,  and  able  for  all,  that  I  am  obliged  to  :  or, 
if  it  seem  good  in  thine  eyes  to  afflict  me  by  the  continu- 
ance of  this  condition,  yet  make  it  up  by  some  means  to 
them,  that  the  prayer  of  thy  servant  may  obtain  of  thee  at 
least,  to  pay  my  debt  in  blessings.     Amen. 

V. 

Lord,  sanctify  and  forgive  all  that  I  have  tempted  to  evil 
by  my  discourse  or  my  example  ;  instruct  them  in  the  right 
way  whom  I  have  led  to  error,  and  let  me  never  run  far- 
ther on  the  score  of  sin  :  but  do  thou  blot  out  all  the  evils 
I  have  done,  by  the  spunge  of  thy  passion,  and  the  blood 
of  thy  cross;  and  give  me  a  deep  and  an  excellent  repent- 
ance, and  a  free  and  a  gracious  pardon,  that  thou  mayest 
answer  for  me,  O  Lord,  and  enable  me  to  stand  upright  in 
judgment ;  for  in  thee,  O  Lord,  have  I  trusted ;  let  me 
never  be  confounded.  Pity  me  and  instruct  me,  guide  me 
and  support  me,  pardon  me  and  save  me,  for  my  sweet 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 

A  Prayer  for  Patron  and  Benefactors. 

O  almighty  God,  thou  fountain  of  all  good,  of  all  excel- 
lency both  of  men  and  angels,  extend  thine  abundant  fa- 
vi^ur  and  loving-kindness  to  my  patron,  to  all  my  friends 


OF  RELIGION.  159 

and  benctactors ;  reward  them  and  make  them  plentiful 
recompense  for  all  the  good,  which,  from  thy  merciful  pro- 
vidence, they  have  conveyed  unto  me.  Let  the  light  of 
thy  countenance  shine  upon  them,  and  let  them  never 
come  into  any  aflliction  or  sadness,  but  such  as  may  be  an 
instrument  of  thy  glory  and  tlieir  eternal  comfort.  For- 
give them  all  their  sins;  let  thy  divinest  Spirit  preserve 
them  from  all  deeds  of  darkness.  Let  thy  ministering 
angels  guard  their  persons  from  the  violence  of  the  spirits 
of  darkness.  And  thou,  who  knowest  every  degree  of  their 
necessity  by  thy  infinite  wisdom,  give  supply  to  all  their 
needs  by  thy  glorious  mercy,  preserving  their  persons, 
sanctifying  their  hearts,  and  leading  them  in  the  ways  of 
righteousness,  by  the  waters  of  comfort,  to  the  land  of 
eternal  rest  and  glory,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 

Religion,  in  a  large  sense,  doth  signify  the  whole  duty 
of  man,  comprehending  in  it  justice,  charity,  and  sobriety  ,• 
because  all  these  being  commanded  by  God,  they  become 
a  part  of  that  honour  and  \vorship,  which  we  are  bound  to 
pay  to  him.  And  thus  the  word  is  used  in  St.  James, 
"  Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father 
is  this,  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction, 
and  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the  world."*  But,  in 
a  more  restrained  sense,  it  is  taken  from  that  part  of  duty, 
which  particularly  relates  to  God  in  our  worshippings  and 
adoration  of  him,  in  confessing  his  excellencies,  loving  his 
person,  admiring  his  goodness,  believing  his  word,  and  doing 
all  that,  which  may,  in  a  proper  and  direct  manner,  do  him 
honour.  It  contains  the  duties  of  the  first  table  only  ;  and 
so  it  is  called  godliness, f  and  is  by  St.  Paul  distinguished 
from  justice  and  sobriety.  In  this  sense  I  am  now  to  ex^ 
plicate  the  parts  of  it. 

Of  the  internal  Actions  of  Religion. 

Those  I  call  the  internal  actions  of  religion,  in  which  the 
soul  only  is  employed,  and  ministers  to  God  in  the  special 
*  James  i.  27.  t  Tit.  ii.  n. 


160  OF  FAITH. 

actions  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity.  Faith  believes  the  re- 
velations of  God  :  hope  expects  his  promises  :  and  charity 
loves  his  excellencies  and  mercies.  Faith  gives  us  under- 
standing to  God  ;  hope  gives  up  the  passions  and  affections 
to  heaven  and  heavenly  things  :  and  charity  gives  the  will 
to  the  service  of  God.  Faith  is  opposed  to  infidelity,  hope 
to  despair,  charity  to  enmity  and  hostility  :  and  these  three 
sanctify  the  whole  man,  and  make  our  duty  to  God  and 
obedience  to  his  commandments  to  be  chosen,  reasonable, 
and  delightful,  and  therefore  to  be  entire,  persevering,  and 
universal. 

SECTION  I. 

OF    FAITH. 

The  Acts  and  Offices  of  Faith  are, 

1.  To  believe  every  thing  which  God  hath  revealed  to 
us :  and,  when  once  we  are  convinced,  that  God  hath 
spoken  it,  to  make  no  farther  inquiry,  but  humbly  to  sub- 
mit ;  ever  remembering,  that  there  are  some  things,  which 
our  understanding  cannot  fathom,  nor  search  out  their 
depth. 

2.  To  believe  nothing  concerning  God,  but  what  is 
honourable  and  excellent,  as  knowing  that  belief  to  be  no 
honouring  of  God,  which  entertains  of  him  any  dishonour- 
able thoughts.  Faith  is  the  parent  of  charity  ;  and  what- 
soever faith  entertains,  must  be  apt  to  produce  love  to 
God  ;  but  he  that  believes  God  to  be  cruel  or  unmerciful, 
or  a  rejoicer  in  the  unavoidable  damnation  of  the  greatest 
part  of  mankind,  or  that  he  speaks  one  thing  and  privately 
means  another,  thinks  evil  thoughts  concerning  God,  and 
such,  as  for  which  we  should  hate  a  man,  and  therefore  are 
great  enemies  of  faith,  being  apt  to  destroy  charity.  Our 
faith  concerning  God  must  be,  as  himself  hath  revealed  and 
described  his  own  excellencies;  and,  in  our  discourses,  we 
must  remove  from  him  all  imperfection,  and  attribute  to  him 
all  excellency. 

3.  To  give  ourselves  wholly  up  to  Christ,  in  heart  and 
desire,  to  become  disciples  of  his  doctrine  with  choice 
(besides  conviction,)  being  in  the  presence  of  God  but  as 
idiots,  that  is,  without  any  principles  of  our  own  to  hinder 
the  truth  of  God :  but  sucking  in   greedily  all  that  God 


OF  FAITH.  161 

hath  taught  us,  believing  it  infinitely,  and  loving  to  believe 
it.  For  this  is  an  act  of  love,  reflected  upon  faith,  or  an 
act  of  faith  leaning  upon  love. 

4.  To  believe  all  God's  promises,  and  that  whatsoever 
is  promised  in  Scripture,  shall,  on  God's  part,  be  as  surely 
performed,  as  if  we  had  it  in  possession.  This  act  makes 
us  to  rely  upon  God  with  the  same  confidence,  as  we  did 
on  our  parents,  when  we  were  children,  when  we  made  no 
doubt,  but  whatsoever  we  needed,  we  should  have  it,  if  it 
were  in  their  power. 

5.  To  believe  also  the  conditions  of  the  promise,  or  that 
part  of  the  revelation,  which  concerns  our  duty.  Many  are 
apt  to  believe  the  article  of  remission  of  sins,  but  they  be- 
lieve it,  without  the  condition  of  repentance,  or  the  fruits 
of  holy  life  :  and  that  is  to  believe  the  article  otherwise  than 
God  intend<3d  it.  For  the  covenant  of  the  gospel  is  the  great 
object  of  faith,  and  that  supposes  our  duty  to  answer  his  grace 
that  God  will  be  our  God,  so  long  as  we  are  his  people. 
The  other  is  not  faith,  but  flattery. 

6.  To  profess  publicly  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  openly 
owning  whatsoever  he  hath  revealed  and  commanded,  not 
being  ashamed  of  the  word  of  God,  or  of  any  practices  en- 
joined by  it ;  and  this,  without  complying  with  any  man's 
interest,  not  regarding  favour,  nor  being  moved  with  good 
words,  not  fearing  disgrace,  or  loss,  or  inconvenience,  or 
death  itself. 

7.  To  pray  without  doubting,  without  weariness,  with- 
out faintness,  entertaining  no  jealousies,  or  suspicions  of 
God,  but  being  confident  of  God's  hearing  us,  and  of  his 
returns  to  us,  whatsoever  the  manner  or  the  instance  be, 
that,  if  we  do  our  duty,  it  will  be  gracious  and  merciful. 

These  acts  of  faith  are,  in  several  degrees,  in  the  ser- 
vants of  Jesus ;  some  have  it  but  as  a  grain  of  mustard- 
seed  ;  some  grow  up  to  a  plant :  some  have  the  fulness  of 
faith :  but  the  least  faith  is,  must  be  a  persuasion  so  strong, 
as  to  make  us  undertake  the  doing  of  all  that  duty,  which 
Christ  built  upon  the  foundation  of  believing.  But  we 
shall  best  discern  the  truth  of  our  faith  by  these  following 
signs.     St.  Jerome  reckons  three. 

Signs  of  true  Faith. 

1.  An  earnest  and  vehement  prayer;   for  it   is   impos- 
sible, we  should  heartily  believe  the  things  of  God  and  the 
q2 


162  OF  FAITH. 

glories  of  the  gospel,  and  not  most  importunately  desire 
them.  For  every  thing  is  desired  according  to  our  belief 
of  its  excellency  and  possibility. 

2.  To  do  nothing  for  vain-glory,  but  wholly  for  the 
interests  of  religion,  and  these  articles  we  believe ;  valuing 
not  at  all  the  rumours  of  men,  but  the  praise  of  God,  to 
whom,  by  faith,  we  have  given  up  all  our  intellectual  fa- 
culties. 

3.  To  be  content  with  God  for  our  judge,  for  our  pa- 
tron, for  our  Lord,  for  our  friend  ;  desiring  God  to  be  all 
in  all  to  us,  as  we  are,  in  our  understanding  and  affections, 
wholly  his. 

Add  to  these, 

4.  To  be  a  stranger  upon  earth  in  our  affections,  and  to 
have  all  our  thoughts  and  principal  desires  fixed  upon  the 
matters  of  faith,  the  things  of  heaven.  For,  if  a  man  were 
adopted  heir  to  Caesar,  he  would  (if  he  believed  it  real  and 
effective)  despise  the  present,  and  wholly  be  at  court  in 
his  father's  eye ;  and  his  desires  would  outrun  his  swiftest 
speed,  and  all  his  thoughts  would  spend  themselves  in 
creating  ideas  and  little  fiintastic  images  of  his  future 
condition.  Now  God  hath  made  us  heirs  of  his  kingdom, 
and  coheirs  with  Jesus:  if  we  believed  this,  we  would 
think,  and  affect,  and  study  accordingly.  But  he,  that 
rejoices  in  gain,  and  his  heart  dwells  in  the  world,  and  is 
espoused  to  a  fair  estate,  and  transported  with  a  light 
momentary  joy,  and  is  afflicted  with  losses,  and  amazed 
with  temporal  persecutions,  and  esteems  disgrace  or  po- 
verty in  a  good  cause  to  be  intolerable ;  this  man  either 
hath  no  inheritance  in  heaven,  or  believes  none  ;  and  be- 
lieves not,  that  he  is  adopted  to  be  the  son  of  God,  the 
heir  of  eternal  glory. 

5.  St.  James's  sign  is  the  best :  "  Shew  me  thy  faith  by 
thy  works."  Faith  makes  the  merchant  diligent  and  ven- 
turous, and  that  makes  him  rich.  Ferdinando,  of  Arra- 
gon,  believed  the  story  told  him  by  Columbus,  and  there- 
fore he  furnished  him  with  ships,  and  got  the  West  Indies 
by  his  faith  in  the  undertaker.  But  Henry  the  Seventh, 
of  England,  believed  him  not;  and  therefore  trusted  him 
not  with  shipping,  and  lost  all  the  purchase  of  that  faith. 
It  is  told  us  by  "Christ,  "He  that  forgives,  shall  be  for- 
given :"  if  we  believe  this,  it  is  certain  we  shall  forgive  our 
enemies  ;  for  none  of  us  all  but  need  and  desire  to  be  for- 


OF  FAITH.  163 

given.  No  man  can  possibly  despise,  or  refuse  to  desire, 
such  excellent  glories,  as  are  revealed  to  them  that  are  ser- 
vants of  Christ,  and  yet  we  do  nothing,  that  is  commanded 
us  as  a  condition  to  obtain  them.  No  man  could  work  a 
day's  labour  without  faith  ;  but  because  he  believes,  he  shall 
have  his  wages  at  the  day's  or  week's  end,  he  does  his  duty. 
But  he  only  believes,  who  does  that  thing,  which  other  men^ 
in  the  like  cases,  do,  when  they  do  believe.  He,  that  be- 
lieves money  gotten  with  danger  is  better  than  poverty  with 
safety,  will  venture  for  it  in  unknown  lands  or  seas :  and  so 
will  he,  that  believes  it  better  to  get  to  heaven  with  labour, 
than  to  go  to  hell  with  pleasure. 

6.  He  that  believes,  does  not  make  haste,  but  waits 
patiently  till  the  times  of  refreshment  come,  and  dares 
trust  God  for  the  morrow,  and  is  no  more  solicitous  for 
the  next  year,  than  he  is  for  that  which  is  past :  and  it  is 
certain,  that  man  wants  faith,  who  dares  be  more  confident 
of  being  supplied,  when  he  hath  money  in  his  purse,  than 
when  he  hath  it  only  in  bills  of  exchange  from  God  ;  or 
that  relies  more  upon  his  own  industry  than  upon  God's 
providence,  when  his  own  industry  fails  him.  If  you  dare 
trust  to  God,  when  the  case,  to  human  reason,  seems  im- 
possible, and  trust  to  God  then  also  out  of  choice,  not  be- 
cause you  have  nothing  else  to  trust  to,  but  because  he  is 
the  only  support  of  a  just  confidence,  then  you  give  a  good 
testimony  of  your  faith. 

7.  True  faith  is  confident,  and  will  venture  all  the  world 
upon  the  strength  of  its  persuasion.  Will  you  lay  your 
life  on  it,  your  estate,  your  reputation,  that  the  doctrine  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  true  in  every  article  ?  Then  you  have  true 
faith.  But  he  that  fears  men  more  than  God,  believes  men 
more  than  he  believes  in  God. 

8.  Faith,  if  it  be  true,  living,  and  justifying,  cannot 
be  separated  from  a  good  life:  it  works  miracles,  makes 
a  drunkard  become  sober,  a  lascivious  person  become 
chaste,  a  covetous  man  become  liberal,  "  it  overcomes  the 
world — it  works  righteousness,"*  and  makes  us  diligently 
to  do,  and  cheerfully  to  suffer,  whatsoever  God  hath  placed 
in  our  way  to  heaven. 

The  means  and  instruments  to  obtain  Faith  are, 
1.  A  humble,  willing,  and  docile  mind,  or  desire  to  be 
*  2  Cor.  xiii.  5.     Rom.  viii.  10. 


164  OF  FAITH., 

instructed  in  the  way  of  God :  for  persuasion  enters  like  a 
sun-beam,  gently,  and  without  violence :  and  open  but 
the  window,  and  draw  the  curtain,  and  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness will  enliven  your  darkness. 

2.  Remove  all  prejudices  and  love  to  every  thing,  which 
may  be  contradicted  by  faith.  "  How  can  ye  believe 
(said  Christ,)  that  receive  praise  one  of  another?"  An 
unchaste  man  cannot  easily  be  brought  to  believe,  that, 
without  purity,  he  shall  never  see  God.  He  that  loves 
riches,  can  hardly  believe  the  doctrine  of  poverty  and  re- 
nunciation of  the  w^orld ;  and  arms  and  martyrdom  and 
the  doctrine  of  the  cross  is  folly  to  him,  that  loves  his 
ease  and  pleasures.  He,  that  hath  within  him  any  prin- 
ciple contrary  to  the  doctrines  of  faith,  cannot  easily  become 
a  disciple* 

3.  Prayer,  w^hich  is  instrumental  to  every  thing,  hath 
a  particular  promise  in  this  thing.  "  He  that  lacks  wis- 
dom let  him  ask  it  of  God  :"  and,  "  If  you  give  good  things 
to  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Fa- 
ther give  his  spirit  to  them  that  ask  him  ?" 

4.  The  consideration  of  the  Divine  omnipotence  and 
infinite  wisdom,  and  our  own  ignorance,  are  great  instru- 
ments of  curing  all  doubting,  and  silencing  the  murmurs 
of  infidelity. 

5.  Avoid  all  curiosity  of  inquiry  into  particulars  and 
circumstances  and  mysteries  :  for  true  faith  is  full  of  inge- 
nuity and  hearty  simplicity,  free  from  suspicion,  wise  and 
confident,  trusting  upon  generals,  w'ithout  watching  and  pry- 
ing into  unnecessary  or  indiscernible  particulars.  No  man 
(•arries  his  bed  into  his  field,  to  watch  how  his  corn  grows, 
but  believes  upon  the  general  order  of  Providence  and  na- 
ture;  and,  at  harvest,  finds  himself  not  deceived. 

6.  In  time  of  temptation,  be  not  busy  to  dispute,  but 
rely  upon  the  conclusion,  and  throw  yourself  upon  God  ; 
and  contend  not  with  him  but  in  prayer,  and  in  the  pre- 
sence, and  with  the  help,  of  a  prudent  untempted  guide ; 
and  be  sure  to  esteem  all  changes  of  belief,  which  ofl^er 
themselves  in  the  time  of  your  greatest  w^eakness  (contrary 
to  the  persuasions  of  your  best  understanding)  to  be  tempt- 
ations,  and  reject  them  accordingly. 

7.  It  is  a  prudent  course,  that,  in  our  health  and  best 
advantages,  we  lay  up  particular  arguments  and  instru- 
ments of  persuasion  and  confidence,  to  be  brought  forth 


OF  HOPE.  165 

and  used  in  the  great  day  of  expense  ;  and  that  especially, 
in  such  things,  in  which  we  used  to  be  most  tempted,  and 
in  which  we  are  least  confident,  and  which  are  most  ne- 
cessary, and  which  commonly  the  devil  uses  to  assault  us 
withal  in  the  days  of  our  visitation. 

8.  The  wisdom  of  the  church  of  God  is  very  remarkable 
in  appointing  festivals  or  holy  days,  whose  solemnity  and 
offices  have  no  other  special  business  but  to  record  the  ar- 
ticle of  the  day  ;  such  as  Trinity  Sunday,  Ascension,  Easter, 
Christmas  day  ;  and  to  those  persons,  who  can  only  believe, 
not  prove  or  dispute,  there  is  no  better  instrument  to 
cause  the  remembrance  and  plain  notion,  and  to  endear 
the  affection  and  hearty  assent  to  the  article,  than  the  pro- 
claiming and  recommending  it  by  the  festivity  and  joy  of  a 
holy  day. 

SECTION  II. 
Of  the  Hope  of  a  Christian. 

Faith  differs  from  hope,  in  the  extension  of  its  object, 
and  in  the  intension  of  degree.  St.  Austin  thus  accounts 
their  difference.  Faith  is  of  all  things  revealed,  good  and 
bad,  rewards  and  punishments,  of  things  past,  present,  and 
to  come,  of  things  that  concern  us,  and  of  things  that  con- 
cern us  not ;  but  hope  hath  for  its  object  things  only  that 
are  good,  and  fit  to  be  hoped  for,  future,  and  concerning 
ourselves:  and  because  these  things  are  offered  to  us  upon 
conditions,  of  which  we  may  so  fail,  as  we  may  change  our 
will,  therefore  our  certainty  is  less  than  the  adherences  of 
faith  ;  which  (because  faith  relies  only  upon  one  proposition, 
that  is,  the  truth  of  the  word  of  God)  cannot  be  made  un- 
certain in  themselves,  though  the  object  of  our  hope  may 
become  uncertain  to  us,  and  to  our  possession.  For  it  is 
infallibly  certain,  that  there  is  heaven  for  all  the  godly,  and 
for  me  amongst  them  all,  if  I  do  my  duty.  But  that  I  shall 
enter  into  heaven,  is  the  object  of  my  hope,  not  of  my  faith  ; 
and  is  so  sure,  as  it  is  certain  I  shall  persevere  in  the  ways 
of  God. 

The  Acts  of  Hope  are, 

1.  To  rely  upon  God  with  a  confident  expectation  of  his 
promises  ;  ever  esteeming,  that  every  promise  of  God  is  a 
magazine  of  all  that  grace  and  relief,  which  we  can  need  in 


166  OF  HOPE 

that  instance  for  which  the  promise  is  made.     Every  degree 
of  hope  is  a  degree  of  confidence. 

2.  To  esteem  all  the  danger  of  an  action,  and  the  possi- 
bilities of  miscarriage,  and  every  cross  accident  that  can  in- 
tervene, to  be  no  defect  on  God's  part,  but  either  a  mercy 
on  his  part,  or  a  fault  on  ours :  for  then  we  shall  be  sure  to 
trust  in  God,  when  we  see  him  to  be  our  confidence,  and 
ourselves  the  cause  of  all  mischances.  The  hope  of  a 
Christain  is  prudent  and  religious. 

3.  To  rejoice  in  the  midst  of  a  misfortune  or  seemyig 
sadness,  knowing,  that  this  may  work  for  good,  and  will, 
if  we  be  not  wanting  to  our  souls.  This  is  a  direct  act  of 
hope,  to  look  through  the  cloud,  and  look  for  a  beam  of 
the  light  from  God  :  and  this  is  called  in  Scripture,  "  re- 
joicing in  tribulation,"  when  the  God  of  hope  fills  us  with 
all  joy  in  believing.  Every  degree  of  hope  brings  a  degree 
of  joy. 

4.  To  desire,  to  pray,  and  to  long  for  the  great  object  of 
our  hope,  the  mighty  price  of  our  high  calling;  and  to  de- 
sire the  other  things  of  this  life,  as  they  are  promised  ; 
that  is,  so  far  as  they  are  made  necessary  and  useful  to  us, 
in  order  to  God's  glory  and  the  great  end  of  souls.  Hope 
and  fasting  are  said  to  be  the  two  wings  of  prayer.  Fast- 
ing is  but  as  the  wing  of  a  bird  ,*  but  hope  is  like  the  wing 
of  an  angel,  soaring  up  to  heaven,  and  bears  our  prayers 
to  the  throne  of  grace.  Without  hope  it  is  impossible  to 
pray  ;  but  hope  makes  our  prayers  reasonable,  passionate, 
and  religious  ;  for  it  relies  upon  God's  promise,  or  expe- 
rience, or  providence,  and  story.  Prayer  is  always  in  pro- 
portion to  our  hope,  zealous  and  affectionate. 

5.  Perseverance  is  the  perfection  of  the  duty  of  hope, 
and  its  last  act :  and  so  long  as  our  hope  continues,  so  long 
we  go  on  in  duty  and  diligence ;  but  he,  that  is  to  raise  a 
castle  in  an  hour  sits  dov/n  and  does  nothing  towards  it ; 
and  Herod  the  sophister,  left  off  to  teach  his  son,  when  he 
saw  that  twenty-four  pages  appointed  to  wait  on  him,  and 
called  by  the  several  letters  of  the  alphabet,  could  never 
make  him  understand  his  letters  perfectly. 

Rules  to  govern  our  Hope. 
1.  Let   your   hope    be  moderate  ;  proportioned  to  your 
state,  person,  and  condition,  whether  it    be    for   gifts    or 
graces,  .or  temporal  favours.     It  is  an  ambitious  hope  for 


OF  HOPE.  167 

persons,  whose  diligence  is  like  them,  that  are  least  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  to  believe  themselves  endeared  to  God 
as  the  greatest  saints  :  or  that  they  shall  have  a  throne 
equal  to  St.  Paul,  or  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary.  A  stam- 
merer cannot,  with  moderation,  hope  for  the  gift  of  tongues  ; 
or  a  peasant  to  become  learned  as  Origen  ;  or  if  a  beggar 
desires,  or  hopes,  to  become  a  king,  or  asks  for  a  thousand 
pounds  a  year,  we  call  him  impudent,  not  passionate,  much 
less  reasonable.  Hope  that  God  will  crown  your  endea- 
vours with  equal  measures  of  that  reward,  which  he  indeed 
freely  gives,  but  yet  gives  according  to  our  proportions. 
Hope  for  good  success  according  to,  or  not  much  beyond 
the  efficacy  of  the  causes  and  the  instrument ;  and  let  the 
husbandman  hope  for  a  good  harvest,  not  for  a  rich  king- 
dom, or  a  victorious  army. 

2.  Let  your  hope  be  well  founded,  relying  upon  just  con- 
fidences, that  is,  upon  God  according  to  his  revelations  and 
promises.  For  it  is  possible  for  a  man,  to  have  a  vain  hope 
upon  God  :  and,  in  matters  of  religion,  it  is  presumption- 
to  hope,  that  God's  mercies  will  be  poured  forth  upon 
lazy  persons,  that  do  nothing  towards  holy  and  strict 
walking,  nothing  (I  say)  but  trust,  and  long  for  an  event 
besides,  and  against  all  disposition  of  the  means.  Every 
false  principle  in  religion  is  a  reed  of  Egypt,  false  and 
dangerous.  Rely  not  in  temporal  things  upon  uncertain 
prophecies  and  astrology,  not  upon  our  own  wit  or  industry^ 
not  upon  gold  or  friends',  not  upon  armies  and  princes  ;  ex- 
pect not  health  from  physicians,  that  cannot  cure  their  own 
breath,  much  less  their  mortality ;  use  all  lawful  instru- 
ments, but  expect  nothing  from  them  above  their  natural  or 
ordinary  efficacy,  and,  in  the  use  of  them,  from  God  ex- 
pect a  blessing.  A  hope,  that  is  easy  and  credulous,  is  an 
arm  of  flesh,  an  ill  supporter  without  a  bone.* 

3.  Let  your  hope  be  without  vanity,  or  garishness  of 
spirit ;  but  sober,  grave,  and  silent,  fixed  in  the  heart,  not 
borne  upon  the  lip,  apt  to  support  our  spirits  within,  but 
not  to  provoke  envy  abroad. 

4.  Let  your  hope  be  of  things  possible,  safe,  and  useful. 
He  that  hopes  for  an  opportunity  of  acting  his  revenge,  or 
lust,  or  rapine,  watches  to  do  himself  a  mischief.  All  evils 
of  ourselves,  or  brethren,  are  objects  of  our  fear,  not  hope  : 

*  Jer.  xvii.  5. 


168  OF  HOPE. 

and,  when  it  is  truly  understood,  things  useless  and  unsafe 
can  no  more  be  wished  for,  than  things  impossible  can  be 
obtained. 

5.  Let  your  hope  be  patient,  without  tediousness  of  spirit, 
or  hastiness  of  prefixing  time.  Make  no  limits  or  prescrip- 
tions to  God ;  but  let  your  prayers  and  endeavours  go  on 
still  with  a  constant  attendance  on  the  periods  of  God's  pro- 
vidence. The  men  of  Bethulia  resolved  to  wait  upon  God, 
but  five  days  longer  :  but  deliverance  stayed  seven  days, 
and  yet  came  at  last.  And  take  not  every  accident  for  an 
argument  of  despair  :  but  go  on  still  in  hoping  ;  and  begin 
again  to  work,  if  any  ill  accident  have  interrupted  you. 

Means  of  Hope,  and  Remedies  against  Despair, 
The  means  to  cure  despair,  and  to  continue  or  increase 
hope,  are,  partly  by  consideration,  partly  by  exercise. 

1.  Apply  your  mind  to  the  cure  of  all  the  proper  causes 
of  despair  :  and  they  are,  weakness  of  spirit,  or  violence  of 
passion.  He,  that  greedily  covets,  is  impatient  of  delay, 
and  desperate  in  contrary  accidents  ;  and  he,  that  is  little 
of  heart,  is  also  of  little  hope,  and  apt  to  sorrow  and  sus- 
picion. 

2.  Despise  the  things  of  the  world,  and  be  indifferent  to 
all  changes  and  events  of  Providence  :  and,  for  the  things 
of  God,  the  promises  are  certain  to  be  performed  in  kind  ; 
and,  where  there  is  less  variety  of  chance,  there  is  less  pos- 
sibility of  being  mocked :  but  he  that  creates  to  himself 
thousands  of  little  hopes,  uncertain  in  the  promise,  fallible 
in  the  event,  and  depending  upon  ten  thousand  circum- 
stances (as  are  all  the  things  of  this  world,)  shall  often  fail 
in  his  expectations,  and  be  used  to  arguments  of  distrust  in 
such  hopes. 

3.  So  long  as  your  hopes  are  regular  and  reasonable, 
though  in  temporal  affairs,  such  as  are  deliverance  from 
enemies,  escaping  a  storm  or  shipwreck,  recovery  from  a 
sickness,  ability  to  pay  your  debts,  dec.  remember,  that  there 
are  some  things  ordinary  and  some  things  extraordinary,  to 
prevent  despair.  In  ordinary,  remember,  that  the  very 
hoping  in  God  is  an  endearment  of  him,  and  a  means  to  ob- 
tain the  blessing:  "I  will  deliver  him,  because  he  hath  put 
his  trust  in  me."  2.  There  are  in  God  all  those  glorious  attri- 
butes and  excellencies,  which,  in  the  nature  of  things,  can 
possibly  create  or  confirm  hope.  God  is,  1,  strong  ;  2,  wise  ; 


OF  HOPE.  3  09 

3,  true  ;  4,  loving.  There  cannot  be  added  another  capacity 
to  create  a  confidence  ;  for,  upon  these  piciniscs,  we  can- 
not fail  of  receiving-  what  is  fit  for  us.  3.  God  hath  obliged 
himself,  by  promise,  that  we  shall  have  the  good  of  every 
thin"-  we  desire  :  for  even  losses  and  denial  shall  work  for 
the  good  of  them  that  fear  God.  And,  if  we  will  trust  the 
truth  of  God  for  performance  of  the  general,  we  may  well 
trust  his  wisdom  to  choose  for  us  the  particular.  But  the 
cxtraordinaries  of  God  are  apt  to  supply  the  defect  of  all 
natural  and  human  possibilities.  1.  God  hath,  in  many 
instances,  given  extraordinary  virtue  to  the  active  causes 
and  instruments  :  to  a  jaw-l3one,  to  kill  a  multitude  ;  to 
three  hundred  men,  to  destroy  a  great  army ;  to  Jonathan 
and  his  armour-bearer,  to  rout  a  whole  garrison.  2.  He 
hath  given  excellent  sufferance  and  vigorousness  to  the 
sufferers,  arming  them  with  strange  courage,  heroical  for- 
titude, invincible  resolution,  and  glorious  patience  :  and 
thus  he  lays  no  more  upon  us,  than  we  are  able  to  bear ; 
for  when  he  increases  our  sufferings,  he  lessens  them,  by 
increasing  our  patience.  3.  His  providence  is  extra-re- 
gular, and  produces  strange  things  beyond  common  rules  : 
and  he,  that  led  Israel  through  a  sea,  and  made  a  rock 
pour  forth  waters,  and  the  heavens  to  give  them  bread  and 
flesh,  and  whole  armies  to  be  destroyed  with  fantastic 
noises,  and  the  fortune  of  all  France  to  be  recovered  and 
entirely  revolved,  by  the  arms  and  conduct  of  a  girl, 
against  the  torrent  of  the  English  fortune  and  chivalry,  can 
do  what  he  please  ;  and  still  retains  the  same  affections  to 
his  people,  and  the  same  providence  over  mankind  as  ever* 
And  it  is  impossible  for  that  man  to  despair,  who  remem- 
bers that  his  helper  is  omnipotent,  and  can  do  what  he 
please.*  Let  us  rest  there  awhile  ;  he  can,  if  he  please  : 
and  he  is  infinitely  loving,  willing  enough  :  and  he  is  infi- 
nitely wise  ;  choosing  better  for  us,  than  we  can  do  for  our- 
selves. This,  in  all  ages  and  chances,  hath  supported  the 
afflicted  people  of  God,  and  carried  them  on  dry  ground 
through  a  Red-sea.  God  invites  and  cherishes  the  hopes 
of  men,  by  all  the  variety  of  his  providence. 

4.  If  your  case  be  brought  to  the  last  extremity,    and 

that  you  are  at  the  pit's  brink,  even  the  very  margin  of  the 

grave,  yet  then  despair  not ;    at  least   put   it  off  a  little 

longer;    and   remember,   that   whatsoever    final   accident 

*  Heb.  ii.  18. 

R 


170  ^^  HOPE. 

takes  away  all  hope  from  you,  if  you  stay  a  little  longer, 
and,  in  the  mean,  while,  bear  it  sweetly,  it  will  also  take  away 
all  despair  too.  For,  when  you  enter  into  the  regions  of 
death,  you  rest  from  all  your  labours,  and  your  fears. 

5.  Let  them,  who  are  tempted  to  despair  of  their  salva- 
tion, consider,  how  much  Christ  suffered  to  redeem  us 
from  sin  and  its  eternal  punishment:  and  he  that  consi- 
ders this,  must  needs  believe,  that  the  desires,  which  God 
had  to  save  us,  were  not  less  than  infinite  ;  and  therefore 
not  easily  to  be  satisfied  without  it. 

6.  Let  no  man  despair  of  God's  mercies  to  forgive  him, 
unless  he  be  sure  that  his  sins  be  greater  than  God's  mer- 
cies. If  they  be  not,  we  have  much  reason  to  hope,  that 
the  stronger  ingredient  will  prevail,  so  long  as  we  are  in 
the  time  and  state  of  repentance,  and  within  the  possibili- 
ties and  latitude  of  the  covenant,  and  as  long  as  any  pro- 
mise can  but  reflect  upon  him  with  an  oblique  beam  of 
comfort.  Possibly  the  man  may  err  in  his  judgment  of 
circumstances ;  and  therefore  let  him  fear  :  but,  because  it 
IS  not  certain  he  is  mistaken,  let  him  not  despair. 

7.  Consider  that  God,  who  knows  all  events  of  men, 
and  what  their  final  condition  shall  be,  who  shall  be  saved 
and  who  will  perish  :  yet  he  treateth  them  as  his  own, 
calls  them  to  be  his  own,  offers  fair  conditions  as  to  his 
own,  gives  them  blessings,  arguments  of  mercy,  and  in- 
stances of  fear,  to  call  them  off  from  death,  and  to  call 
them  home  to  life  :  and,  in  all  this,  shows  no  despair  of 
happiness  to  them  ;  and  therefore  much  less  should  any 
man  despair  of  himself,  since  he  never  was  able  to  read  the 
scrolls  of  the  eternal  predestination. 

8.  Remember,  that  despair  belongs  only  to  passionate 
fools  or  villains  (such  as  were  Achitophel  and  Judas,)  or 
else  to  devils  and  damned  persons :  and  as  the  hope  of 
salvation  is  a  good  disposition  towards  it ;  so  is  despair  a 
certain  consignation  to  eternal  ruin.  A  man  may  be 
damned  for  despairing  to  be  saved.  Despair  is  the  proper 
passion  of  damnation.  "  God  hath  placed  truth  and  felicity 
in  heaven  ;  curiosity  and  repentance  upon  earth :  but 
misery  and  despair  are  the  portions  of  hell." 

9.  Gather  together  into  your  spirit  and  its  treasure- 
house,  the  memory,  not  only  all  the  promises  of  God,  but 
also  the  remembrances  of  experience,  and  the  former 
senses  of  the  Divine  favours    that,  from  thence,  you  may 


OF  HOPE.  171 

argue  from  times  past  to  the  present,  and  enlarge  to  the 
future,  and  to  greater  blessings.  For  although  the  con- 
jeeturcs  and  expectations  of  hope  are  not  like  the  conclu- 
sions of  faith,  yet  they  are  a  helmet  against  the  scorchings 
of  despair,  in  temporal  things,  and  an  anchor  of  the  soul 
sure  and  steadfast  against  the  fluctuations  of  the  spirit,  in 
matters  of  the  soul.  St.  Bernard  reckons  divers  princi- 
ples of  hope,  by  enumerating  tiie  instances  of  the  Divine 
mercy:  and  we  may,  by  them,  reduce  this  rule  to  practice 
in  the  following  manner  :  1.  God  hath  preserved  me  from 
many  sins  :  his  mercies  are  infinite  :  I  hope  he  will  still 
preserve  me  from  more,  and  for  ever.  2.  I  have  sinned, 
and  God  smote  me  not :  his  mercies  are  still  over  the  peni- 
tent :  I  hope  he  will  deliver  me  from  all  the  evils  I  have 
deserved.  He  hath  forgiven  me  many  sins  of  malice  ;  and 
therefore  surely  he  will  pity  my  infirmities.  3.  God  visited 
my  heart,  and  changed  it :  he  loves  the  work  of  his  own 
hands  ;  and  so  my  heart  is  now  become ;  I  hope,  he  will 
love  this  too.  4.  When  I  repented,  he  received  me  gra- 
ciously ;  and  therefore  I  hope,  if  I  do  my  endeavour,  he 
will  totally  forgive  me.  5.  He  helped  my  slow  and  begin- 
ning endeavours ;  and,  therefore,  I  hope  he  will  lead  me  to 
perfection.  6.  Vv^hen  he  had  given  me  something  first,  then 
he  gave  me  more  :  I  hope,  therefore,  he  will  keep  me  from 
falling,  and  give  me  the  grace  of  perseverance.  7.  He  hath 
chosen  me  to  be  a  disciple  of  Christ's  institution  :  he  hath 
elected  me  to  his  kingdom  of  grace ;  and  therefore,  I  hope, 
also  to  the  kingdom  of  his  glory.  8.  He  died  for  me, 
when  I  was  his  enemy  ;  and  therefore,  I  hope,  he  will  save 
rje,  when  he  hath  reconciled  me  to  him,  and  is  become  mv 
♦riend.  9.  "  God  hath  given  us  his  Son  :  how  should  not 
Qe,  with  him,  give  us  all  things  else  ?"  All  these  St.  Ber- 
nard reduces  to  these  three  heads,  as  the  instruments  of 
all  our  hopes:  1.  The  charity  of  God  adopting  us;  2. 
The  truth  of  his  promises ;  3.  The  power  of  his  perform- 
ance :  which  if  any  truly  weighs,  no  infirmity  or  accident 
can  break  his  hopes  into  indiscernible  fragments,  but  some 
good  planks  will  remain,  after  the  greatest  storm  and  ship- 
wreck. This  was  St.  Paul's  instrument :  "  Experience 
begets  hope,  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed." 

10.  Do  thou  take  care  only  of  thy  duty,  of  the  means 
and  proper  instruments  of  thy  purpose,  and  leave  the  end 
to  God  :  lay  that  up  with  him,  and  he  will  take  care  of  all 


172  OF  CHARITY,  OR 

that  is  intrusted  to  him  :  and  this,  being  an  act  of  confi- 
dence in  God,  is  also  a  means  of  security  to  thee. 

11.  By  special  arts  of  spiritual  prudence  and  arguments, 
secure  the  confident  belief  of  the  resurrection,  and  thou 
canst  not  but  hope  for  every  thing  else,  which  you  may 
reasonably  expect,  or  lawfully  desire,  upon  the  stock  of 
the  Divine  mercies  and  promises. 

12.  If  a  despair  seizes  you  in  a  particular  temporal  in- 
stance, let  it  not  defile  thy  spirit  with  impure  mixture,  or 
mingle  in  spiritual  considerations :  but  rather  let  it  make 
thee  fortify  thy  soul  in  matters  of  religion,  that  by  being 
thrown  out  of  your  earthly  dwelling  and  confidence,  you 
may  retire  into  the  strengths  of  grace,  and  hope  the  more 
strongly  in  that,  by  how  much  you  arc  the  more  defeated 
in  this,  that  despair  of  a  fortune  or  a  success  may  become 
the  necessity  of  all  virtue. 

SECTION  III. 
Of  Charity,  or  the  Love  of  God. 
Love  is  the  greatest  thing  that  God  can  give  us  :  for  him- 
self is  love ;  and  it  is  the  greatest  thing  we  can  give  to 
God ;  for  it  will  also  give  ourselves,  and  carry  with  it  all 
that  is  ours.  The  apostle  calls  it  the  band  of  perfection  ; 
it  is  the  old,  and  it  is  the  new,  and  it  is  the  great  com- 
mandment, and  it  is  all  the  commandments  :  for  it  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law.  It  does  the  work  of  all  other  graces, 
without  any  instrument  but  its  own  immediate  virtue.  For 
as  the  love  to  sin  makes  a  man  sin  against  all  his  own  rea- 
son, and  all  the  discourses  of  wisdom.^  and  all  the  advices 
of  his  friends,  and  without  temptation,  and  without  oppor- 
tunity ;  so  does  the  love  of  God :  it  makes  a  man  chaste 
without  the  laborious  arts  of  fasting  and  exterior  disci- 
plines, temperate  in  the  midst  of  feasts,  and  is  active 
enough  to  choose  it  without  any  intermedial  appetites,  and 
reaches  at  glory  through  the  very  heart  of  grace,  without 
any  other  arms  but  those  of  love.  It  is  a  grace,  that  loves 
God  for  himself ;  and  our- neighbours,  for  God.  The  con- 
sideration of  God's  goodness  and  bounty,  the  experience 
of  those  profitable  and  excellent  emanations  from  him, 
may  be,  and  most  commonly  are,  the  first  motive  of  our 
love  :  but,  when  we  are  once  entered,  and  have  tasted  the 
goodness  of  God,  wo  love  the  spring  for  its  own  excellency, 
passing  from  passion  to  reason,  from  thanking  to  adoring, 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD.  173 

from  sense  to  spirit,  from  considering  ourselves  to  an  union 
with  God  :  and  this  is  the  ima«ro  and  little  representation 
of  heaven  ;  it  is  beatitude  in  picture,  or  rather  the  infancy 
and  beginnings  of  glory. 

We  need  no  incentives  by  way  of  special  enumeration  to 
move  us  to  the  love  of  God ;  for  we  cannot  love  any  thing 
for  any  reason  real  or  imaginary,  but  that  excellence  is  in- 
finitely more  eminent  in  God.  There  can  but  two  things 
create  love,  perfection  and  usefulness :  to  which  answer  on 
our  part,  1,  Admiration;  and  2,  Desire;  and  both  these 
are  centred  in  love.  For  the  entertainment  of  the  first, 
there  is  in  God  an  infinite  nature,  immensity  or  vastness 
without  extension  or  limit,  immutability,  eternity,  omnipo- 
tence, omniscience,  holiness,  dominion,  providence,  boun- 
ty, mercy,  justice,  perfection  in  himself,  and  the  end,  to 
which  all  things  and  all  actions  must  be  directed,  and  will, 
at  last,  arrive.  The  consideration  of  which  may  be  height- 
ened, if  we  consider  our  distance  from  all  these  glories  ; 
our  smallness  and  limited  nature,  our  nothing,  our  incon- 
stancy, our  age  like  a  span,  our  weakness  and  ignorance, 
our  poverty,  our  inadvertency  and  inconsideration,  our  dis- 
abilities and  disaffections  to  do  good,  our  harsh  natures 
and  unmerciful  inclinations,  our  universal  iniquity,  and  our 
necessities  and  dependencies,  not  only  on  God  originally 
and  essentially,  but  even  our  need  of  the  meanest  of  God's 
creatures,  and  our  being  obnoxious  co  the  weakest  and 
most  contemptible.  But,  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
second,  we  may  consider,  that  in  him  is  a  torrent  of  pleasure 
for  the  voluptuous  ;  he  is  the  fountain  of  honour  for  the 
ambitious ;  an  inexhaustible  treasure  for  the  covetous. 
Our  vices  are  in  love  with  fantastic  pleasures  and  images 
of  perfection,  which  are  truly  and  really  to  be  found  no 
where  but  in  God.  And  therefore  our  virtues  have  such 
proper  objects,  that  it  is  but  reasonable  they  should  all 
turn  into  love :  for  certain  it  is,  that  this  love  will  turn  all 
into  virtue.  For  in  the  scrutinies  for  righteousness  and 
judgment,  when  it  is  inquired,  whether  such  a  person  be  a 
good  man  or  no,  the  meaning  is  not,  What  does  he  be- 
lieve ?  or  what  does  he  hope  ?  but  what  he  loves. 

The  Acts  of  Love  to  God  are, 
1,  Love  does  all  things  which  may  please  the  beloved  per- 
son ;  it  performs  ail  his  commandments :  and  this  is  one 
r2 


174  OF  CHARITY,  OR 

of  the  greatest  iiistanccs  and  arguments  of  our  love,  that 
God  requires  of  us,  this  is  love,  "  That  we  keep  his  corn- 
liiandiiients."     Love  is  obedient. 

2.  It  docs  all  the  intimations  and  secret  significations  of 
his  pleasure,  whom  we  love  ;  and  this  is  an  argument  of  a 
great  degree  of  it.  The  first  instance  is,  it  makes  the  love 
accepted  :  but  this  gives  a  greatness  and  singularity  to  it. 
The  first  is  the  least,  and  less  than  it  cannot  do  our  duty  : 
but,  without  tills  second,  we  cannot  come  to  perfection. 
Great  love  is  also  pliant  and  inquisitive  in  the  instances  of 
its  expression. 

3.  Love  gives  away  all  things,  that  so  he  may  advance 
the  interest  of  the  beloved  person  :  it  relieves  all  that  he 
would  have  relieved,  and  spends  itself  in  such  real  signi- 
fications, as  it  is  enabled  withal.  He  never  loved  God, 
that  will  quit  any  thing  of  his  religion,  to  save  his  money. 
Love  is  always  liberal  and  communicative. 

4.  It  suffers  all  things  that  are  imposed  by  its  beloved, 
or  that  can  happen  for  his  sake,  or  that  intervene  in  his 
service,  cheerfully,  sweetly,  willingly  ;  expecting  that  God 
should  turn  them  into  good,  and  instruments  of  felicity. 
"  Charity  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things."*  Love 
is  patient  and  content  with  any  thing,  so  it  be  together  with 
its  beloved. 

5.  Love  is  also  impatient  of  any  thing,  that  may  dis- 
please the  beloved  person ;  hating  all  sin  as  the  enemy  of 
its  friend ;  for  love  contracts  all  the  same  relations,  and 
Inarries  the  same  friendships  and  the  same  hatreds ;  and 
all  affection  to  a  sin  is  perfectly  inconsistent  with  the  love 
of  God.  Love  is  not  divided  between  God  and  God's 
enemy  ;  we  must  love  God  with  all  our  heart ;  that  is,  give 
him  a  whole  and  undivided  affection,  having  love  for  no- 
thing else  but  such  things  which  he  allows,  and  which  he 
commands,  or  loves  himself. 

6.  Love  endeavours  for  ever  to  be  present,  to  converse 
with,  to  enjoy,  to  be  united  with  its  object ;  loves  to  be 
talking  of  him,  reciting  his  praises,  telling  his  stories,  re- 
peating his  words,  imitating  his  gestures,  transcribing  his 
copy  in  every  thing ;  and  every  degree  of  union  and  every 
degree  of  likeness  is  a  degree  of  love  ;  and  it  can  endure 
any  thing  but  the  displeasure  and  the  absence  of  its  be- 
loved.    For  we  are  not  to  use  God  and  religion,  as  men 

*  1  Cor.  xiii. 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD.  175 

use  perfumes,  with  which  they  are  delighted,  when  they 
have  them,  but  can  very  well  be  without  them.  True  cha- 
rity is  restless,  till  it  enjoys  God  in  such  instances,  in  which 
it  wants  him:  it  is  like  hunger  and  thirst,  it  must  be  fed  or 
it  cannot  be  answered:  and  nothing  can  supply  the  pre- 
sence, or  make  recompense  for  the  absence  of  God,  or  of 
the  effects  of  his  favour,  and  the  light  of  his  countenance. 

7.  True  love  in  all  accidents  looks  upon  the  beloved  per- 
son, and  observes  his  countenance,  and  how  he  approves 
or  disapproves,  and  accordingly,  looks  sad  or  cheerful.  He, 
that  loves  God,  is  not  displeased  at  those  accidents  which 
God  chooses ;  nor  murmurs  at  those  changes,  which  he  makes 
in  his  family;  nor  envies  at  those  gifts  he  bestows:  but 
chooses,  dife  he  likes,  and  is  ruled  by  his  judgment,  and  is 
perfectly  of  his  persuasion :  loving  to  learn,  where  God  is 
the  teacher,  and  being  content  to  be  ignorant  or  silent, 
where  he  is  not  pleased  to  open  himself. 

8.  Love  is  curious  of  little  things,  or  circumstances  and 
measures,  and  little  accidents;  not  allowing  to  itself  any 
infirmity,  which  it  strives  not  to  master,  aiming  at  what  it 
cannot  yet  reach,  desiring  to  be  of  an  angelical  purity,  and 
of  a  perfect  innocence,  and  a  seraphical  fervour,  and  fears 
every  image  of  offence;  is  as  much  afflicted  at  an  idle  word, 
as  some  at  an  act  of  adultery,  and  will  not  allow  to  itself  so 
much  anger  as  will  disturb  a  child,  nor  endure  the  impurity 
of  a  dream.  And  this  is  the  curiosity  and  niceness  of 
Divine  love:  this  is  the  fear  of  God,  and  is  the  daughter 
and  production  of  love. 

The  Measures  and  Rules  of  Divine  Love, 
But  because  this  pasrjon  is  pure  as  the  brightest  and 
smoothest  mirror,  and}  therefore,  is  apt  to  be  sullied  with 
every  impurer  breath,  we  must  be  careful,  that  our  love  to 
God  be  governed  by  these  measures. 

1.  That  our  love  to  God  be  sweet,  even,  and  full  of  tran- 
quillity ;  having  in  it  no  violences,  or  transportations,  but 
going  on  in  a  course  of  holy  actions  and  duties,  which  are 
proportionable  to  our  condition  and  present  state  ;  not  to 
satisfy  all  the  desire,  but  all  the  probabilities  and  measures 
of  our  strength.  A  new  beginner  in  religion  hath  passionate 
and  violent  desires;  but  they  must  not  be  the  measures  of  his 
actions:  but  he  must  consider  his  strength,  his  late  sickness 
and  state  of  death,  the  proper  temptations  of  his  condition, 


17G  OF  CHARITY,  OR 

and  sfnnd  at  first  upon  liis  dotoncc :  not  oo  to  storm  a 
stron;4-  I'ort,  or  attack  a  j)ot(Mit  erioiuy,  or  do  hrroical  actions, 
and  litter  lor  i»iaiits  in  roli<iion.  Indiscreet  violences  and 
untimely  forward iu>ss  are  the  rocks  of  religion,  against 
which  tender  spirits  often  sutler  shipwreck. 

2.  Let  our  love  be  prudent  and  without  illusion:  that  is, 
that  it  expri^ss  itself  in  such  instances,  which  CumI  hath 
chosen,  or  which  we  choose  ourselves  by  ])roportiou  to  his 
rules  and  measurers.  Love  turns  into  doating,  when  reli- 
gion turns  into  superstition.  No  degree  of  love  can  be  im- 
prudent, but  the  expressions  may:  we  cannot  love  Cod  too 
much,  but  we  may  proclaim  it  in  indecent  manners. 

J3.  Let  our  love  be  tirm,  constant,  and  ins(>parable ;  not 
coming  aiul  returning  like  the  tide,  but  descending  like  a 
never-failing  river,  ever  running  into  the  ocean  of  Divine 
excellency,  |)assing  on  in  the  cliannels  of  duty  and  a  con- 
stant obedience,  and  never  ceasing  to  bo  what  it  is,  till  it 
comes  to  what  it  desires  to  be;  still  being  a  river,  till  it  be 
turned  into  sea  and  vastncss,  even  the  immensity  of  a 
blessed  eternity. 

Although  (lie  consideration  of  the  Divine  excellencies 
and  mercies  be  infinitely  sullicient  to  produce  in  us  love  to 
Ciod  (who  is  invisible,  aiul  yet  not  distant  from  us,  but  we 
tecl  him  in  his  blessings,  he  dwells  in  oin-  hearts  by  faith, 
we  i'cod  on  him  in  the  sacrament,  and  are  made  all  one  with 
him  in  the  incarnation  and  glorification  of  Jesus;)  yet,  that 
we  may  the  better  enkindle  and  increase  our  love  to  God, 
tile  Ibllowing  advices  are  not  useless. 

Helps  to  increase  our  Love  to  God  hi/  irai/  of  Exercise. 

1.  Cut  off  all  earthly  and  sensual  loves;  for  they  pollute 
and  unhallow  the  pure  and  sj)iritual  love.  I'ivery  degree 
of  inordinate  affection  to  the  things  of  this  world,  and  every 
act  of  love  to  a  sin,  is  a  perfect  enemy  to  the  love  of  God: 
and  it  is  a  great  shame  to  take  any  part  of  our  affection 
from  the  eternal  God,  to  bestow  it  upon  his  creature  in 
defiance  of  the  Creator;  or  to  give  it  to  the  devil,  our  open 
enemy,  in  disparagement  of  him,  who  is  the  fountain  of  all 
excellencies  and  celestial  amities. 

2.  Lay  fetters  and  restraints  upon  the  imaginative  and 
fantastic  part;  because  our  fancy,  being  an  imperfect  and 
liigher  fiiculty,  is  usually  pleased  with  the  entertainment  of 
ishadows  and  gauds;  and  because  the  things  of  the  world 


Tin-:  IjOvk  of  ciOD.  177 

fill  it  with  such  hoautio.s  and  fantastic  imajrcry,  the  f;incy 
|)rcsoritH  such  ohjf;cts,  as  arc  amiable  to  the  aflcctions  and 
elective  powers.  Persons  of  fancy,  such  as  are  women  and 
children,  have  always  the  most,  violent  loves:  hut,  there- 
fore, if  we  he  careful  with  what  representments  we  fill  our 
fancy,  we  may  the  sooner  rectify  our  love.  'J'o  this  pur- 
pose it  is  j^'ood,  that  we  transplant  the  instruments  of  fancv 
into  relijrion:  and  for  this  reason  music  was  brouj^ht  into 
churches,  and  ornaments,  and  perfumes,  and  comely  gar- 
ments, and  solemnities,  and  decent  ceremonies,  that  the 
busy  and  less  discerning  fancy,  being  bribed  with  its  proper 
objects,  may  be  instrumental  to  a  more  celestial  and  spiri- 
tual love. 

.3.  Remove  solicitude  or  worldly  cares  and  multitudes 
of  secular  businesses;  for,  if  these  take  up  the  intention 
and  actual  application  of  our  thoughts  and  our  employments, 
they  will  also  possess  our  passions;  which,  if  they  be  filled 
with  one  object,  though  ignoble,  cannot  attend  another, 
though  more  excellent.  We  always  contract  a  friendship 
and  relation  with  those  with  whom  we  converse ;  our  very 
country  is  dear  to  us,  for  our  being  in  it;  and  the  neigh- 
bours of  the  same  village,  and  those  that  buy  and  sell  with 
us,  have  seized  upon  some  portions  of  our  love  :  and  there- 
fore, if  we  dwell  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  we  shall  also 
grow  in  love  with  them ;  and  all  our  love  or  all  our  hatred, 
all  our  hopes  or  all  our  fears,  which  the  eternal  God  would 
willingly  secure  to  himself,  and  esteem  amongst  his  trea- 
sures and  precious  things,  shall  be  spent  upon  trifles  and 
vanities. 

4.  Do  not  only  choose  the  things  of  God,  but  secure 
your  inclinations  and  aptnesses  for  God  and  for  religion. 
For  it  will  be  a  hard  thing  for  a  man  to  do  such  a  personal 
violence  to  his  first  desires,  as  to  choose  whatsoever  he 
hath  no  mind  to.  A  man  will  many  times  satisfy  the  im- 
portunity and  daily  solicitations  of  his  first  longings;  and, 
therefore,  there  is  nothing  can  secure  our  loves  to  God, 
but  stopping  the  natural  fountains,  and  making  religion  to 
grow  near  the  first  desires  of  the  soul. 

5.  Converse  with  God,  by  frequent  prayer.  In  particu- 
lar, desire  that  your  desires  may  be  right,  and  love  to  have 
your  affections  regular  and  holy.  To  which  purpose  make 
very  frequent  addresses  to  God  by  ejaculations  and  com- 
munions, and  an  assiduous  daily  devotion:  discover  to  him 


178  OF  CHARITY,  ETC 

all  your  wants ;  complain  to  him  of  all  your  affronts ;  do  as 
Hezekiah  did,  lay  your  misfortunes  and  your  ill  news  be- 
fore him>  spread  them  before  the  Lord ;  call  to  him  for  health, 
run  to  him  for  counsel,  beg  of  him  for  pardon  ;  and  it  is  as 
natural  to  love  him,  to  whom  we  make  such  addresses,  and 
of  whom  we  have  such  dependences,  as  it  is  for  children 
to  love  their  parents. 

6.  Consider  the  immensity  and  vastness  of  the  Divine 
love  to  us,  expressed  in  all  the  emanations  of  his  provi- 
dence ;  1.  In  his  creation  ;  2.  In  his  conservation  of  us.  For 
it  is  not  my  prince,  or  my  patron,  or  my  friend,  that  sup- 
ports me,  or  relieves  my  needs ;  but  God,  who  made  the 
corn  that  my  friend  sends  me  ;  who  created  the  grapes,  and 
supported  him  who  hath  as  many  dependences,  and  as  many 
natural  necessities,  and  as  perfect  disabilities,  as  myself. 
God,  indeed,  made  him  the  instrument  of  his  providence  to 
me,  as  he  hath  made  his  own  land  or  his  own  cattle  to  him  : 
with  this  only  difference,  that  God,  by  his  ministration  to  me, 
intends  to  do  him  a  favour  and  a  reward,  which  to  natural 
instruments  he  doth  not.  3.  In  giving  his  Son;  4.  In  forgiv- 
ing our  sins;  5.  In  adopting  us  to  glory;  and  ten  thousand 
times  ten  thousand  little  accidents  and  instances,  happen- 
ing in  the  doing  every  of  these  :  and  it  is  not  possible,  but, 
for  so  great  love  wc  should  give  love  again  ;  for  God,  we 
should  give  man ;  for  felicity,  we  should  part  with  our 
misery.  Nay,  so  great  is  the  love  of  the  holy  Jesus,  God 
incarnate,  that  he  would  leave  all  his  triumphant  glories, 
and  die  once  more  for  man,  if  it  were  necessary  for  procur- 
ing felicity  to  him. 

In  the  use  of  these  instruments,  love  will  grow  in  several 
knots  and  steps,  like  the  sugar-canes  of  India,  according  to 
a  thousand  varieties  in  the  persons  loving;  and  it  will  be 
great  or  less,  in  several  persons ;  and  in  the  same,  accord- 
ing to  his  growth  in  Christianity.  But,  in  general  discours- 
ing, there  are  but  two  states  of  love;  and  those  are  labour 
of  love,  and  the  zeal  of  love  :  the  first  is  duty;  the  second  is 
perfection. 

The  two  States  of  Love  to  God, 

The  least  love  that  is,  must  be  obedient,  pure,  simple, 

and  communicative:  that  is,  it  must  exclude  all  affection 

to  sin,  and  all  inordinate  affection  to  the  world,  and  must 

be  expressive,  according  to  our  power,  in  the  instances  of 


OF  ZEAL.  179 

duty,  and  must  be  love  for  love's  sake :  and  of  this  love, 
martyrdom  is  the  highest  instance ;  that  is,  a  readiness  of 
mind  rather  to  suffer  any  evil,  than  to  do  any.  Of  this 
our  blessed  Saviour  affirmed,  that  no  man  had  greater  love 
than  this  :  that  is,  this  is  the  highest  point  of  duty,  the  great- 
est love,  that  God  requires  of  man.  And  yet  he,  that  is  the  • 
most  imperfect,  must  have  this  love  also  in  preparation  of 
mind,  and  must  differ  from  another  in  nothing,  except  in 
the  degrees  of  promptness  and  alacrity.  And,  in  this 
sense,  he  that  loves  God  truly,  (though  but  with  a  begin- 
ning and  tender  love,)  yet  he  loves  God  with  all  his  heart, 
that  is,  with  that  degree  of  love,  which  is  the  highest 
point  of  duty,  and  of  God's  charge  upon  us ;  and  he  that 
loves  God  with  all  his  heart,  may  yet  increase  with  the  in- 
crease of  God :  just  as  there  are  degrees  of  love  to  God 
among  the  saints,  and  yet  each  of  them  love  him  with  all 
their  powers  and  capacities. 

2.  But  the  greater  state  of  love  is  the  zeal  of  love,  which 
runs  out  into  excrescences  and  suckers,  like  a  fruitful  and 
pleasant  tree,  or  bursting-  into  gums,  and  producing  fruits,  not 
of  a  monstrous,  but  of  an  extraordinary  and  heroical  great- 
ness.   Concerning  which,  these  cautions  are  to  be  observed. 

Cautions  and  Rules  concerning  Zeal. 

1.  If  zeal  be  in  the  beginnings  of  our  spiritual  birth,  or 
be  short,  sudden,  and  transient;  or  be  a  consequent  of  a 
man's  natural  temper;  or  come  upon  any  cause  but  after 
a  long  growth  of  a  temperate  and  well-regulated  love ;  it 
is  to  be  suspected  for  passion  and  frowardness,  rather  than 
the  vertical  point  of  love.* 

2.  That  zeal  only  is  good,  which,  in  a  fervent  love,  hath 
temperate  expressions.  For  let  the  affection  boil  as  high 
as  it  can,  yet  if  it  boil  over  into  irregular  and  strange  ac- 
tions, it  will  have  but  few,  but  will  need  many,  excuses. 
Elijah  was  zealous  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts;  and  yet  he  was 
so  transported  with  it,  that  he  could  not  receive  answer 
from  God,  till,  by  music,  he  was  recomposed  and  tamed : 
and  Moses  broke  both  the  tables  of  tiie  law,  by  being  pas- 
sionately zealous  against  them,  that  broke  the  first. 

3.  Zeal  must  spend  its  greatest  heat,  principally,  in  those 
things  that  concern  ourselves ;  but  with  great  care  and  re- 
straint in  those  that  concern  others. 

*  Gal.  iv.  18. 


180  OF  ZEAL. 

4.  Remember,  that  zeal,  being  an  excrescence  of  Divine 
love,  must,  in  no  sense,  contradict  any  action  of  love. 
Love  to  God  includes  love*  to  our  neighbour ;  and  there- 
fore, no  pretence  of  zeal  for  God's  glory  must  make  us  un- 
charitable to  our  brother ;  for  that  is  just  so  pleasing  to 
■God,  as  hatred  is  an  act  of  love. 

5.  That  zeal,  that  concerns  others,  can  spend  itself  in 
nothing  but  arts,  and  actions,  and  charitable  instruments, 
for  their  good :  and,  when  it  concerns  the  good  of  many, 
that  one  should  suffer,  it  must  be  done  by  persons  of  a  com- 
petent authority,  and  in  great  necessity,  in  seldom  in- 
stances, according  to  the  law  of  God  or  inan;  but  never  by 
private  right,  or  for  trifling  accidents,  or  in  mistaken  pro- 
positions. The  Zealots,  in  the  old  law,  had  authority  to 
transfix  and  stab  some  certain  persons :  but  God  gave  them 
warrant :  it  was  in  the  case  of  idolatry,  or  such  notorious 
huge  crimes,  the  danger  of  which  was  insupportable,  and 
the  cognizance  of  which  was  infallible  :  and  yet  that  war- 
rant expired  with  the  synagogue. 

6.  Zeal,  in  the  instances  of  our  Cwn  duty  and  personal 
deportment,  is  more  safe  than  in  matters  of  counsel,  and 
actions  besides  our  just  duty,  and  tending  towards  perfec- 
tion. Though,  in  these  instances,  there  is  not  a  direct  sin, 
even  where  the  zeal  is  less  wary,  yet  there  is  much  trouble 
and  some  danger;  as,  if  it  be  spent  in  the  too-forward 
vows  of  chastity,  and  restraints  of  natural  and  innocent 
liberties. 

7.  Zeal  may  be  let  loose  in  the  instances  of  internal, 
personal,  and  spiritual  actions,  that  are  matters  of  direct 
duty :  as  in  prayers,  and  acts  of  adoration,  and  thanksgiv- 
ing, and  frequent  addresses :  provided  that  no  indirect  act 
pass  upon  them  to  defile  them ;  such  as  complacency,  and 
opinions  of  sanctity,  censuring  others,  scruples  and  opinions 
of  necessity,  unnecessary  fears,  and  superstitious  number- 
ings  of  times  and  hours ;  but  let  the  zeal  be  as  forward  as 
it  will,  as  devout  as  it  will,  as  seraphical  as  it  will,  in  the 
direct  address  and  intercourse  with  God,  there  is  no  danger, 
no  transgression.  Do  all  the  parts  of  your  duty  as  earnest- 
ly, as  if  the  salvation  of  all  the  world,  and  the  whole  glory 
of  God,  and  the  confusion  of  all  devils  and  all  that  you  hope 
or  desire,  did  depend  upon  every  one  action. 

8.  Let  zeal  be  seated  in  the  will  and  choice,  and  regu- 

*  Phil.  iii.  6 


OK  ZEAL.  181 

lated  with  prudence  and  a  sober  understanding,  not  in 
the  fancies  and  alFections  ;*  for  these  will  make  it  full  of 
noise  and  empty  of  profit ;  but  that  will  make  it  deep  and 
smooth,  material  and  devout. 

The  sum  is  this  :  that  zeal  is  not  a  direct  duty,  nowhere 
commanded  for  itself,  and  is  nothing  but  a  forwardness  and 
circumstance  of  another  duty,  and  therefore  is  then  only 
acceptable,  when  it  advances  the  love  of  God  and  our 
neighbours,  whose  circumstance  it  is."f"  That  zeal  is  only 
safq,  only  acceptable,  which  increases  charity  directly  ; 
and  because  love  to  our  neighbour  and  obedience  to  God 
are  the  two  great  portions  of  charity,  we  must  never  ac- 
count our  zeal  to  be  good,  but  as  it  advances  both  these, 
if  it  be  in  a  matter  that  relates  to  both  ;  or  severally,  if  it  re- 
lates severally.  St.  Paul's  zeal  was  expressed  in  preaching 
without  any  offerings  or  stipend,  in  travelling,  in  spending 
and  being  spent  for  his  flock,  in  suffering,  in  being  willing 
to  be  accursed,  for  love  of  the  people  of  God  and  his 
countrymen.  Let  our  zeal  be  as  great  as  his  was,  so  it 
be  in  affections  to  others,  but  not  at  all  in  angers  against 
them  :  in  the  first,  there  is  no  danger;  in  the  second,  there 
is  no  safety.  In  brief,  let  your  zeal  (if  it  must  be  expressed 
in  anger)  be  always  more  severe  against  thyself  than 
against  others.:]: 
IT  The  other  part  of  love  to  God  is  love  to  our  neighbour, 

for  which  I  have  reserved  the  paragraph  of  alms. 

Of  the  External  Actions  of  Religion. 

Religion  teaches  us  to  present  to  God  our  bodies  as  well 
as  our  souls ;  for  God  is  the  Lord  of  both  ;  and  if  the 
body  serves  the  soul  in  actions,  natural,  and  civil,  and 
intellectual,  it  must  not  be  eased  in  the  only  offices  of  reli- 
gion, unless  the  body  shall  expect  no  portion  of  the  rewards 
of  religion,  such  as  are  resurrection,  reunion,  and  glorifi- 
cation. "  Our  bodies  are  to  God  a  living  sacrifice ;  and 
to  present  them  to  God,  is  holy  and  acceptable. "§ 

The  actions  of  the  body,  as  it  serves  to  religion,  and  as 
it  is  distinguished  from  sobriety  and  justice,  either  relate 
to  the  word  of  God,  or  to  prayer,  or  to  repentance,  and 
make  these  kinds  of  external  actions  of  religion.  1.  Read- 
ing and  hearing  the  word  of  God  :  2.  Fasting  and  corporal 

*  Rom.x.  2.  t  Tit.ii.  14.    Rev.iii.l6. 

I  2Cor.vii.  11.  $Rom.xii.  1. 

S 


182  OF  READING  OR  HEAIUNG 

austerities,  called  by  St.  Paul,  bodily  exercise :  3.  Feast- 
ing,  or  keeping  days  of  public  joy  and  thanksgiving. 

SECTION  IV. 

Of  Reading  or  Hearing  the  Word  of  God. 

Reading  and  hearing  the  word  of  God  are  but  the  se- 
veral circumstances  of  the  same  duty  ;  instrumental  espe- 
cially to  faith  ;  but,  consequently,  to  all  other  graces  of  the 
Spirit.  It  is  all  one  to  us,  whether  by  the  eye,  or  by  the 
ear,  the  Spirit  conveys  his  precepts  to  us.  If  we  hear  St. 
Paul  saying  to  us,  that  "  whoremongers  and  adulterers  God 
will  judge,"  or  read  it  in  one  of  his  epistles;  in  either  of 
them,  we  are  equally  and  sufficiently  instructed.  The  Scrip- 
tures read  are  the  same  thing  to  us,  which  the  same  doc- 
trine was,  when  it  was  preached  by  the  disciples  of  our 
blessed  Lord ;  and  we  are  to  learn  of  either,  with  the  same 
dispositions.  There  are  many,  that  cannot  read  the  word, 
and  they  must  take  it  in  by  the  ear ;  and  they  that  can  read, 
find  the  same  word  of  God  by  the  eye.  It  is  necessary  that 
all  men  learn  it  in  some  way  or  other,  and  it  is  sufficient, 
in  order  to  their  practice,  that  they  learn  it  any  way.  The 
word  of  God  is  all  those  commandments  and  revelations, 
those  promises  and  threatenings,  the  stories  and  sermons 
recorded  in  the  Bible  :  nothing  else  is  the  word  of  God, 
that  we  know  of  by  any  certain  instrument.  The  good 
books  and  spiritual  discourses,  the  sermons  or  homilies 
written  or  spoken  by  men,  are  but  the  word  of  men  or  ra- 
ther explications  of,  and  exhortations  according  to,  the 
word  of  God  :  but,  of  themselves,  they  are  not  the  word  of 
God.  In  a  sermon,  the  text  only  is  in  a  proper  sense  to 
be  called  God's  word  :  and  yet  good  sermons  are  of  great 
use  and  convenience  for  the  advantages  of  religion.  He, 
that  preaches  an  hour  together  against  drunkenness  with  the 
tongue  of  men  or  angels,  hath  spoke  no  other  word  of  God 
but  this,  "  Be  not  drunk  with  wine,  wherein  is  excess  :" 
and  he  that  writes  that  sermon  in  a  book,  and  publishes 
that  book,  hath  preached  to  all  that  read  it,  a  louder  ser- 
mon than  could  be  spoken  in  a  church.  This  I  say  to  this 
purpose,  that  we  may  separate  truth  from  error,  popular 
opinions  from  substantial  truths.  For  God  preaches  to 
us  in  the  Scripture,  and  by  his  secret  assistances  and  spi- 
ritual thoughts  and  holy  motions  :  good  men  preach  to  us, 


Till-:  WORD  OF  GOD.  188 

when  they,  by  popular  arg-uments,  and  liuman  arts  and 
compliances,  expound  and  press  any  of  those  doctrines, 
which  God  hath  preached  unto  us  in  his  holy  word.     But, 

1.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  certainly  the  best  preacher  in  the 
world,  and  the  words  of  Scrij)ture  the  best  sermons. 

2.  All  the  doctrine  of  salvation  is  so  plainly  set  down  there, 
that  the  most  unlearned  person,  by  hearing  it  read,  may 
understand  all  his  duty.  What  can  be  plainer  spoken 
than  this,  "  Thou  siialt  not  kill.  Be  not  drunk  with  wine. 
Husbands,  love  your  wives.  Whatsoever  ye  would  that 
men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  so  to  them."  The  wit  of  man 
cannot  more  plainly  tell  us  our  duty,  or  more  fully,  than 
the  Holy  Ghost  hath  done  already. 

3.  Good  sermons  and  good  books  are  of  excellent  use  : 
but  yet  they  can  serve  no  other  end,  but  that  we  practise 
the  plain  doctrines  of  Scripture. 

4.  What  Abraham,  in  the  parable,  said  concerning  the 
brethren  of  the  rich  man,  is  here  very  proper;  "They 
have  Moses  and  the  prophets,  let  them  hear  them  :  but  if 
they  refuse  to  hear  these,  neither  will  they  believe,  though 
one  should  arise  from  the  dead  to  preach  unto  them."* 

5.  Reading  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  a  duty  expressly  com- 
manded us,f  and  is  called  in  scripture  "preaching:"  all 
other  preaching  is  the  effect  of  human  skill  and  industry, 
and  although  of  great  benefit,  yet  it  is  but  an  ecclesiastical 
ordinance  ;  the  law  of  God  concerning  preaching  being  ex- 
pressed in  the  matter  of  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  hear- 
ing that  word  of  God  which  is,  and  as  it  is,  there  described. 

But  this  duty  is  reduced  to  practice  in  the  following  rules. 

Rules  for  Hearing  or  Reading  the  Word  of  God. 

1.  Set  apart  some  portion  of  thy  time,  according  to  the 
opportunities  of  thy  calling  and  necessary  employment, 
for  the  reading  of  Holy  Scripture  ;  and,  if  it  be  possible, 
every  day,  read  or  hear  some  of  it  read  :  you  are  sure  that 
book  teaches  all  truth,  commands,  all  holiness,  and  pro- 
mises all  happiness. 

2.  When  it  is  in  your  power  to  choose,  accustom  your- 
self to  such  portions,  which  are  most  plain  and  certain 
duty,  and  which  contain  the  story  of  the  life  and  death  of 

*  Lukexvi.  29.  31.  ^ 

t  Deut.  xxxi.  13,  Luko  xxiv.  45.  Matt.  xxii.  29.  Actsxv.  21.  Rev.i.  3. 
2  Tim.  iii.  G. 


184  OF  READL\G  OR  HEARING 

our  blessed  Saviour.  Read  the  gospels,  the  Psalms  of 
David ;  and  especially  those  portions  of  Scripture  which, 
by  the  wisdom  of  the  church,  are  appointed  to  be  publicly 
read  upon  Sundays  and  holydays,  viz.  the  epistles  and 
gospels.  In  the  choice  of  any  other  portions,  you  may  ad- 
vise with  a  spiritual  guide,  that  you  may  spend  your  time 
with  most  profit. 

3.  Fail  not  diligently  to  attend  to  the  reading  of  Holy 
Scriptures,  upon  those  days  wherein  it  is  most  publicly 
and  solemnly  read  in  churches  :  for  at  such  times,  besides 
the  learning  our  duty,  we  obtain  a  blessing  along  with  it : 
it  becoming  to  us,  upon  those  days,  a  part  of  the  solemn 
Divine  worship. 

4.  When  the  word  of  God  is  read  or  preached  to  you,  be 
sure  you  be  of  a  ready  heart  and  mind,  free  from  worldly 
cares  and  thoughts,  diligent  to  hear,  careful  to  mark,  stu- 
dious to  remember,  and  desirous  to  practise  all  that  is  com- 
manded, and  to  live  according  to  it.  Do  not  hear  for  any 
other  end,  but  to  become  better  in  your  life,  and  to  be  in- 
structed in  every  good  work,  and  to  increase  in  the  love  and 
service  of  God. 

6.  Beg  of  God,  by  prayer,  that  he  would  give  you  the 
spirit  of  obedience  and  profit,  and  that  he  would,  by  his 
Spirit,  write  the  word  in  your  heart,  and  that  you  describe 
it  in  your  life.  To  which  purpose  serve  yourself  of  some 
affectionate  ejaculations  to  that  purpose,  before  and  after 
this  duty. 

Concerning  Spiritual  Books  and  Ordinary  Sermons,  take 
in  these  Advices  also. 

6.  Let  not  a  prejudice  to  any  man's  person  hinder  thee 
from  receiving  good  by  his  doctrine,  if  it  be  according  to 
godliness :  but  (if  occasion  offer  it,  or  especially  if  duty 
present  it  to  thee,  that  is,  if  it  be  preached  in  that  assem- 
bly, where  thou  art  bound  to  be  present)  accept  the  word 
preached,  as  a  message  from  God,  and  the  minister,  as  his 
angel  in  that  ministration. 

7.  Consider  and  remark  the  doctrine  that  is  represented 
to  thee  in  any  discourse ;  and  if  the  preacher  adds  ac- 
cidental advantages,  any  thing  to  comply  with  thy  weak- 
ness, or  to  put  thy  spirit  into  action,  or  holy  resolution, 
remember  it,  and  make  use  of  it.  But  if  the  preacher  be 
a  weak  person,  yet  the  text  is  the  doctrine  thou  art  to  re- 


THE  WORD  OF  GOD.  •        185 

member ;  tliat  contains  all  thy  duty,  it  is  worth  thy  attend 
ance  to  hear  that  spoken  often,  and  renewed  upon  thy 
thoughts :  and  though  thou  bcest  a  learned  man,  yet  the 
same  thing,  which  thou  knowcst  already,  if  spoken  by  an- 
other, may  be  made  active  by  that  application.  I  can  bet- 
ter be  comforted  by  my  own  consideration,  if  another  hand 
applies  them,  than  if  I  do  it  myself;  because  the  word  of 
God  does  not  work  as  a  natural  agent,  but  as  a  Divine  in- 
strument :  it  does  not  prevail  by  the  force  of  deduction  and 
artificial  discoursings  only,  but  chiefly  by  way  of  blessing 
in  the  ordinance,  and  in  the  ministry  of  an  appointed  person. 
At  least,  obey  the  public  order,  and  reverence  the  consti- 
tution, and  give  good  example  of  humility,  charity,  and 
obedience. 

8.  When  Scriptures  are  read,  you  are  only  to  inquire, 
with  diligence  and  modesty,  into  the  meaning  of  the  Spirit : 
but  if  homilies  or  sermons  be  made  upon  the  words  of 
Scripture,  you  are  to  consider,  whether  all  that  be  spoken, 
be  conformable  to  the  Scriptures.  For,  although  you  may 
practise  for  human  reasons,  and  human  arguments,  minis- 
tered from  the  preacher's  art ;  yet  you  must  practise  nothing 
but  the  command  of  God,  nothing  but  the  doctrine  of  Scrip- 
ture, that  is,  the  text. 

9.  Use  the  advice  of  some  spiritual  or  other  prudent  man, 
for  the  choice  of  such  spiritual  books,  which  may  be  of 
use  and  benefit  for  the  edification  of  thy  spirit  in  the  ways 
of  holy  living ;  and  esteem  that  time  well  accounted  for, 
that  is  prudently  and  affectionately  employed  in  hearing 
or  reading  good  books  and  pious  discourses ;  ever  remem- 
bering, that  God,  by  hearing  us  speak  to  him  in  prayer, 
obliges  us  to  hear  him  speak  to  us  in  his  word,  by  what 
instrument  soever  it  be  conveyed. 

SECTION  V. 

Of  Fasting. 

Fasting,  if  it  be  considered  in  itself  without  relation  to 
spiritual  ends,  is  a  duty  no  where  enjoined  or  counselled. 
But  Christianity  hath  to  do  with  it,  as  it  may  be  made  an 
instrument  of  the  Spirit,  by  subduing  the  lusts  of  the  flesh, 
or  removing  any  liindrances  of  religion.  And  it  hath  been 
practised  by  all  ages  of  the  church,  and  advised  in  order  to 
three  ministries;  1.  To  pravcr;  2.  To  mortification  of 
s  2 


185        •  OF  FASTING. 

bodily  lusts;  3.  To  repentance:  and  it  is  to  be  practised, 
according  to  the  following  measures. 

Rules  for  Christian  Fasting. 

1.  Fasting,  in  order  to  prayer,  is  to  be  measured  by  the 
proportions  of  the  times  of  prayer ;  that  is,  it  ought  to  be 
a  total  fast  from  all  things,  during  the  solemnity,  unless  a 
probable  necessity  intervene.  Thus  the  Jews  ate  nothing 
upon  the  sabbath  days,  till  their  great  offices  were  per- 
formed ;  that  is,  about  the  sixth  hour :  and  St.  Peter  used 
it  as  an  argument,  that  the  apostles  in  Pentecost  were  not 
drunk,  because  it  was  but  the  third  hour  of  the  day  ;  of 
such  a  day,  in  which  it  was  not  lawful  to  eat  or  drink,  till 
the  sixth  hour:  and  the  Jews  were  offended  at  the  disci- 
ples, for  plucking  the  ears  of  corn,  on  the  sabbath,  early 
in  the  morning,  because  it  was  before  the  time,  in  which, 
by  their  customs,  they  esteemed  it  lawful  to  break  their 
fast.  In  imitation  of  this  custom,  and  in  prosecution  of 
the  reason  of  it,  the -Christian  church  hath  religiously  ob- 
served fasting  before  the  holy  communion  ;  and  the  more 
devout  persons  (though  without  any  obligation  at  all,)  re- 
fused  to  eat  or  drink,  till  they  had  finished  their  morning 
devotions :  and  further  yet,  upon  days  of  humiliation,  which 
are  designed  to  be  spent  wholly  in  devotion,  and  for  the 
averting  God's  judgments,  (if  they  were  eminent,)  fasting  is 
commanded,  together  with  prayer  :  commanded  (I  say)  by 
the  church  to  this  end  :  that  the  spirit  might  be  clearer  and 
more  angelical,  when  it  is  quitted  in  some  proportions  from 
the  loads  of  flesh. 

2.  Fasting,  when  it  is  in  order  to  prayer,  must  be  a 
total  abstinence  from  all  meat,  or  else  an  abatement  of 
the  quantity  :  for  the  help  Avhich  fasting  does  to  prayer, 
cannot  be  served  by  changing  flesh  into  fish,  or  milk-meats 
into  dry  diet ;  but  by  turning  much  into  little,  or  little  into 
none  at  all,  during  the  time  of  solemn  and  extraordinary 
prayer. 

3.  Fasting,  as  it  is  instrumental  to  prayer,  must  be  at- 
tended with  other  aids  of  the  like  virtue  and  efficacy ;  such 
as  are  removing  for  the  time  all  worldly  cares  and  secular 
businesses:  and  therefore  our  blessed  Saviour  enfolds 
these  parts  within  the  same  caution ;  "  take  heed,  lest 
your  hearts  be  overcharged  with  surfeiting,  and  drunken- 
ness, and  the  cares  of  this  world,  and  that  day  overtake 


OF  FASTING.  197 

you  unawares."  To  which  add  ahns  ;  for,  upon  the  wings 
of  fasting  and  ahns,  holy  prayer  infallibly  mounts  up  to 
heaven. 

4.  When  fasting  is  intended  to  serve  the  duty  of  re- 
pentance, it  is  then  best  chosen,  when  it  is  short,  sharp, 
and  effective ;  that  is,  either  a  total  abstinence  from  all 
nourishment  (according  as  we  shall  appoint,  or  be  ap- 
pointed,) during  such  a  time,  as  is  separate  for  the  solemn- 
ity and  attendance  upon  the  employment :  or,  if  we  shall 
extend  our  severity  beyond  the  solemn  days,  and  keep 
our  anger  against  our  sin,  as  we  are  to  keep  our  sorrow, 
that  is,  always  in  readiness,  and  often  to  be  called  upon ; 
then,  to  refuse  a  pleasant  morsel,  to  abstain  from  the  bread 
of  our  desires,  and  only  to  take  wholesome  and  less  pleas- 
ing nourishment,  vexing  our  appetite  by  the  refusing  a 
lawful  satisfaction,  since,  in  its  petulancy  and  luxury,  it 
preyed  upon  an  unlawful. 

5.  Fasting,  designed  for  repentance,  must  be  ever  joined 
with  an  extreme  care,  that  we  fast  from  sin  :  for  there  is 
no  greater  folly  or  indecency  in  the  world,  than  to  commit 
that  for  w^hich  I  am  now  judging  and  condemning  myself. 
This  is  the  best  fast,  and  the  other  may  serve  to  promote 
the  interest  of  this,  by  increasing  the  disaffection  to  it, 
and  multiplying  arguments  against  it. 

6.  He  that  fasts  for  repentance,  must,  during  that  so- 
lemnity, abstain  from  all  bodily  delights,  and  the  sensu- 
ality of  all  his  senses  and  his  appetites  ;  for  a  man  must 
not,  when  he  mourns  in  his  fast,  be  merry  in  his  sport  : 
weep  at  dinner,  and  laugh  all  day  after :  have  a  silence 
in  his  kitchen,  and  music  in  his  chamber  :  judge  the  sto- 
mach, and  feast  the  other  senses.  I  deny  not,  but  a  man 
may,  in  a  single  instance,  punish  a  particular  sin  with  a 
proper  instrument.  If  a  man  have  offended  in  his  palate, 
he  may  choose  to  fast  only  ;  if  he  have  sinned  in  softness 
and  in  his  touch,  he  may  choose  to  lie  hard,  or  work  hard, 
and  use  sharp  inflictions  :  but  although  this  discipline  be 
proper  and  particular,  yet  because  the  sorrow  is  of  the 
whole  man,  no  sense  must  rejoice,  or  be  with  any  study  or 
purpose  feasted  and  entertained  softly.  This  rule  is  in- 
tended to  relate  to  the  solemn  days  appointed  for  repent- 
ance publicly  or  privately  :  besides  which,  in  the  whole 
course  of  our  life,  even  in  the  midst  of  our  most  festival 
and  freer  joys,  we  may  sprinkle  some  single  instances  and 


193  -  OF  fasti::g. 

acts  of  self-condemning,  or  punishing;  as  to  refuse  a 
pleasant  morsel  or  a  delicious  draught  with  a  tacit  remem- 
brance of  the  sin,  that  now  returns  to  displease  my  spirit. 
And,  though  these  actions  be  single,  there  is  no  indecency 
in  them  ;  because  a  man  may  abate  of  his  ordinary  liberty 
and  bold  freedom,  w4th  great  prudence,  so  he  does  it 
without  singularity  in  himself,  or  trouble  to  others  ;  but 
he  may  not  abate  of  his  solemn  sorrow :  that  may  be 
caution ;  but  this  would  be  softness,  effeminacy,  and 
indecency. 

7.  When  fasting  is  an  act  of  mortification,  that  is,  is  in- 
tended to  subdue  a  bodily  lust,  as  the  spirit  of  fornication, 
or  the  fondness  of  strong  and  impatient  appetites,  it  must 
not  be  a  sudden,  sharp,  and  violent  fast,  but  a  state  of 
fasting,  a  diet  of  fasting,  a  daily  lessening  our  portion  of 
meat  and  drink,  and  a  choosing  such  a  coarse  diet,  which 
may  make  the  least  preparation  for  the  lusts  of  the  body. 
He  that  fasts  three  days  without  food,  will  weaken  other 
parts,  more  than  the  ministers  of  fornication  ;  and  when 
the  meals  return  as  usually,  they  also  will  be  served,  as 
soon  as  any.  In  the  mean  time,  they  will  be  supplied  and 
made  active  by  the  accidental  heat  that  comes  with  such 
violent  fastings  :  for  this  is  a  kind  of  aerial  devil ;  the 
prince,  that  rules  in  the  air,  is  the  devil  of  fornication  ; 
and  he  will  be  as  tempting  with  the  windiness  of  a  violent 
fast,  as  with  the  flesh  of  an  ordinary  meal.  But  a  daily 
subtraction  of  the  nourishment  will  introduce  a  less  busy 
habit  of  body :  and  that  will  prove  the  more  effectual 
remedy. 

8.  Fasting  alone  will  not  cure  this  devil,  though  it  helps 
much  towards  it ;  but  it  must  not,  therefore,  be  neglected, 
but  assisted  by  all  the  proper  instruments  of  remedy 
against  this  unclean  spirit :  and  w^hat  it  is  unable  to  do 
alone,  in  company  wuth  other  instruments,  and  God's  bless- 
ing upon  them,  it  may  effect. 

9.  All  fasting,  for  whatsoever  end  it  be  undertaken, 
must  be  done  without  any  opinion  of  the  necessity  of  the 
thing  itself,  without  censuring  others,  with  all  humility,  in 
order  to  the  proper  end  ;  and  just  as  a  man  takes  physic  ; 
of  which  no  man  hath  reason  to  be  proud,  and  no  man  thinks 
it  necessary,  but  because  he  is  in  sickness,  or  in  danger 
and  disposition  to  it. 

10.  All   fasts,  ordained  by  lawful  authority,  are  to  be 


OF  FASTING.  I89 

observed  in  order  to  the  same  purposes,  to  which  they  are 
enjoined ;  and  to  be  accompanied  with  actions  of  the  same 
nature,  just  as  it  is  in  private  fasts :  for  there  is  no  other 
difference,  but  that,  in  public,  our  superiors  choose  for  us, 
what,  in  private,  we  do  for  ourselves. 

11.  Fasts,  ordained  by  lawful  authority,  are  not  to  be 
neglected  ;  because  alone  they  cannot  do  the  thing,  in 
order  to  which  they  were  enjoined.  It  may  be,  one  day 
of  humiliation  will  not  obtain  the  blessing,  or  alone  kill 
the  lust :  yet  it  must  not  be  despised,  if  it  can  do  any 
thing  towards  it.  An  act  of  fasting  is  an  act  of  self- 
denial  ;  and,  though  it  do  not  produce  the  habit,  yet  it  is 
a  good  act. 

12.  When  the  principal  end,  why  a  fast  is  publicly 
prescribed,  is  obtained  by  some  other  instrument,  in  a  par- 
ticular person  ;  as  if  the  spirit  of  fornication  be  cured  by 
the  rite  of  marriage,  or  by  a  gift  of  chastity  ;  yet  that  per- 
son, so  eased,  is  not  freed  from  the  fasts  of  the  church  by 
that  alone,  if  those  fasts  can  prudently  serve  any  other 
end  of  religion,  as  that  of  prayer,  or  repentance,  or  morti- 
fication of  some  other  appetite  ;  for,  when  it  is  instrumental 
to  any  end  of  the  Spirit,  it  is  freed  from  superstition  ;  and 
then  we  must  have  some  other  reason  to  quit  us  from  the 
obligation,  or  that  alone  will  not  do  it. 

13.  When  the  fast,  publicly  commanded  by  reason  of 
some  indisposition,  in  the  particular  person,  cannot  ope- 
rate to  the  end  of  the  commandment ;  yet  the  avoiding 
offence,  and  the  complying  with  public  order,  is  reason 
enough  to  make  the  obedience  to  be  necessary.  For  he, 
that  is  otherwise  disobliged,  as  when  the  reason  of  the  law 
ceases  as  to  his  particular,  yet  remains  still  obliged,  if  he 
cannot  do  otherwise,  without  scandal ;  but  this  is  an  obli- 
gation of  charity,  not  of  justice. 

14.  All  fasting  is  to  be  used  with  prudence  and  charity  : 
for  there  is  no  end,  to  which  fasting  serves,  but  may  be 
obtained  by  other  instruments  :  and,  therefore,  it  must,  at 
no  hand,  be  made  an  instrument  of  scruple ;  or  become  an 
enemy  to  our  health  ;  or  be  imposed  upon  persons,  that 
are  sick  or  aged,  or  to  whom  it  is,  in  any  sense,  uncharit- 
able, such  as  are  wearied  travellers ;  or  to  whom,  in  the 
whole  kind  of  it,  it  is  useless,  such  as  are  women  with 
child,  poor  people,  and  little  children.  But,  in  these  cases, 
the  church  hath  made  provision,  and  inserted  caution  into 


190  OF  KEEPING  FESTIVAL 

her  laws  ;  and  they  are  to  be  reduced  to  practice,  according 
to  custom,  and  the  sentence  of  prudent  persons,  with  great 
latitude,  and  without  niceness  and  curiosity  :  having  this  in 
our  first  care,  that  we  secure  our  virtue ;  and,  next,  that  we 
secure  our  health,  that  we  may  the  better  exercise  the  la- 
bours of  virtue ;  lest,  out  of  too  much  austerity,  we  bring 
ourselves  to  that  condition,  that  it  be  necessary  to  be  indul- 
gent to  softness,  ease,  and  extreme  tenderness. 

15.  Let  not  intemperance  be  the  prologue  or  the  epilogue 
to  your  fast ;  lest  the  fast  be  so  far  from  taking  off  any 
thing  of  the  sin,  that  it  be  an  occasion  to  increase  it ;  and, 
therefore,  when  the  fast  is  done,  be  careful,  that  no  super- 
vening  act  of  gluttony  or  excessive  drinking  unhallow  the 
religion  of  the  past  day  ;  but  eat  temperately,  according  to 
the  proportion  of  other  meals,  lest  gluttony  keep  either  of 
the  gates  to  abstinence. 

The  Benefits  of  Fasting. 
He  that  undertakes  to  enumerate  the  benefits  of  fasting, 
may,  in  the  next  page,  also  reckon  all  the  benefits  of  physic  ; 
for  fasting  is  not  to  be  commended  as  a  duty,  but  as  an  in- 
strument ;  and,  in  that  sense,  no  man  can  reprove  it,  or 
undervalue  it,  but  he  that  knows  neither  spiritual  arts,  nor 
spiritual  necessities.  But,  by  the  doctors  of  tiie  church,  it 
is  called  the  nourishment  of  prayer,  the  restraint  of  lust,  the 
wings  of  the  soul,  the  diet  of  angels,  the  instrument  of  hu- 
mility and  self-denial,  the  purification  of  the  spirit :  and 
the  paleness  and  meagreness  of  visage,  which  is  consequent 
to  the  daily  fast  of  great  mortifiers,  is,  by  St.  Basil,  said  to 
be  the  mark  in  the  forehead,  which  the  angel  observed, 
when  he  signed  the  saints  in  the  forehead  to  escape  the 
wrath  of  God.  "  The  soul  that  is  greatly  vexed,  which  goeth 
stooping  and  feeble,  and  the  eyes  that  fail,  and  the  hungry 
soul,  shall  give  thee  praise  and  righteousness,  O  Lord." 

SECTION  VI. 
Of  keeping  Festivals,  and  Days  holy  to  the  Lord : 
particularly  the  Lord^s  Day. 
True  natural  religion,  that,  which  was  common  to  all 
nations  and  ages,  did  principally  rely  upon  four  great  pro- 
positions :  1.  That  there  is  one  God  ;  2.  That  God  is  no- 
thing of  those  things,  which  we  see  ;  3.  That  God  takes 
care    of    all   things    below,    and    governs    all    the    world  ; 


DAYS  TO  C;OD.  191 

4.  That  he  is  Ihe  great  Creator  of  all  things,  without  him- 
self: and,  according  to  these,  were  framed  the  four  first 
precepts  of  the  decalogue.  In  the  first,  the  unity  of  the 
Godhead  is  expressly  aflirmed :  in  the  second,  his  invi- 
sibility and  immateriality  :  in  the  third,  is  affirmed  God's 
government  and  providence,  by  avenging  them,  that  swear 
falsely  by  his  name ;  by  which  also  his  omniscience  is 
declared.  In  the  fourth  commandment,  he  proclaims 
himself  the  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth  :  for,  in  memory 
of  God's  rest  from  the  work  of  six  days,  the  seventh  was 
hallowed  into  a  sabbath ;  and  the  keeping  it  was  a  con- 
fessing God  to  be  the  great  maker  of  heaven  and  earth ; 
and  consequently  to  this,  it  also  was  a  confession  of  his 
goodness,  his  omnipotence,  and  his  wisdom ;  all  which 
were  written  with  a  sun-beam  in  the  great  book  of  the 
creature. 

So  long  as  the  law  of  the  sabbath  was  bound  upon 
God's  people,  so  long  God  would  have  that  to  be  the 
solemn  manner  of  confessing  these  attributes ;  but  when, 
the  priesthood  being  changed,  there  was  a  change  also  of 
the  law,  the  great  duty  remained  unalterable  in  changed 
circumstances.  We  are  eternally  bound  to  confess  God 
Almighty  to  be  the  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth ;  but  the 
manner  of  confessing  it  is  changed  from  a  rest,  or  a  doing 
nothing,  to  a  speaking  something ;  from  a  day  to  a  sym- 
bol ;  from  a  ceremony  to  a  substance ;  from  a  Jewish  rite 
to  a  Christian  duty  ;  we  profess  it  in  our  creed,  we  confess 
it  in  our  lives ;  we  describe  it  by  every  line  of  our  life,  by 
every  action  of  duty,  by  faith,  and  trust,  and  obedience : 
and  we  do  also,  upon  great  reason,  comply  with  the  Jew- 
ish manner  of  confessing  the  creation,  so  far  as  it  is  instru- 
mental to  a  real  duty.  We  keep  one  day  in  seven,  and  so 
confess  the  manner  and  circumstances  of  the  creation  ;  and 
we  rest  also,  that  we  may  tend  holy  duties :  so  imitating 
God's  rest  better  than  the  Jew  in  Synesius,  who  lay  upon 
his  face  from  evening  to  evening,  and  could  not,  by  stripes 
or  wounds,  be  raised  up  to  steer  the  ship  in  a  great  storm. 
God's  rest  was  not  a  natural  cessation  ;  he,  who  could  not 
labour,  could  not  be  said  to  rest :  but  God's  rest  is  to  be 
understood  to  be  a  beholding  and  a  rejoicing  in  his  work 
finished:  and  therefore  we  truly  represent  God's  rest, 
when  we  confess  and  rejoice  in  God's  works  and  God's 
glory. 


193  OF  KEEPING  THE 

This  the  Christian  church  does  upon  every  day ;  but  es- 
pecially upon  the  Lord's  day,  which  she  hath  set  apart  for 
this  and  all  other  offices  of  religion,  being  determined  to 
this  day  by  the  resurrection  of  her  dearest  Lord,  it  being 
the  first  day  of  joy  the  church  ever  had.  And  now,  upon 
the  Lord's  day,  we  are  not  tied  to  the  rest  of  the  sabbath, 
but  to  all  the  work  of  the  sabbath ;  and  we  are  to  abstain 
from  bodily  labour,  not  because  it  is  a  direct  duty  to  us, 
as  it  was  to  the  Jews  ;  but  because  it  is  necessary  in  order 
to  our  duty,  that  we  attend  to  the  offices  of  religion. 

The  observation  of  the  Lord's  day  diffisrs  nothing  from 
the  observation  of  the  sabbath,  in  the  matter  of  religion, 
but  in  the  manner.  They  diffisr  in  the  ceremony  and  ex- 
ternal rite  :  rest,  with  them,  was  the  principal ;  with  us,  it 
is  the  accessory.  They  differ  in  the  office  or  forms  of  wor- 
ship :  for  they  were  then  to  worship  God  as  a  creator  and 
a  gentle  father ;  we  are  to  add  to  that,  our  Redeemer,  and 
all  his  other  excellencies  and  mercies.  And,  though  we 
have  more  natural  and  proper  reason  to  keep  the  Lord's 
day  than  the  sabbath,  yet  the  Jews  had  a  Divine  command- 
ment for  their  day,  which  we  have  not  for  ours :  but  we 
have  many  commandments  to  do  all  that  honour  to  God, 
which  was  intended  in  the  fourth  commandment ;  and  the 
apostles  appointed  the  first  day  of  the  week  for  doing  it  in 
solemn  assemblies.  And  the  manner  of  worshipping  God, 
and  doing  him  solemn  honour  and  service  upon  this  day, 
we  may  best  observe  in  the  following  measures. 

Rules  for  keeping  the  Lord's  Day  and  other  Christian 
Festivals. 

1.  When  you  go  about  to  distinguish  festival  days  from 
common,  do  it  not,  by  lessening  the  devotions  of  ordinary 
days,  that  the  common  devotion  may  seem  bigger  upon  fes- 
tivals ;  but,  on  every  day,,  keep  your  ordinary  devotions 
entire,  and  enlarge  upon  the  holy  day. 

2.  tlpon  the  Lord's  day,  we  must  abstain  from  all  ser- 
vile and  laborious  works,  except  such,  which  are  matters 
of  necessity,  of  common  life,  or  of  great  charity ;  for  these 
are  permitted  by  that  authority,  which  hath  separated  the 
day  for  holy  uses.  The  sabbath  of  the  Jews,  though  con- 
sisting principally  in  rest,  and  established  by  God,  did 
yield  to  these.  The  labour  of  love  and  the  labours  of  re- 
ligion,  were  not  against  the  reason  and  the  spirit  of  the 


LORD'S  DAY,  ETC.  193 

commandment,  for  which  the  letter  was  decreed,  and  to 
which  it  oujrht  to  minister.  And,  therefore,  much  more  is 
it  so  on  the  Lord's  day,  where  the  letter  is  wholly  turned 
into  spirit,  and  there  is  no  commandment  of  God,  but  of 
spiritual  and  holy  actions.  The  priests  might  kill  their 
beasts,  and  dress  them  for  sacrifice  ;  and  Christ,  though 
born  under  the  law,  might  heal  a  sick  man ;  and  the  sick 
man  might  carry  his  bed  to  witness  his  recovery,  and  con- 
fess the  mercy,  and  leap  and  dance  to  God  for  joy  ;  and 
an  ox  might  be  led  to  water,  and  an  ass  be  haled  out  of  a 
ditch  ;  and  a  man  may  take  physic,  and  he  may  eat  meat, 
and  therefore  there  were  of  necessity  some  to  prepare  and 
minister  it;  and  the  performing  these  labours  did  not  con- 
sist in  minutes  and  just  determining  stages;  but  they  had, 
even  then,  a  reasonable  latitude  ;  so  only  as  to  exclude 
unnecessary  labour,  or  such,  as  did  not  minister  to  charity 
or  religion.  And,  therefore,  this  is  to  be  enlarged  in  the 
gospel,  whose  sabbath  or  rest  is  but  a  circumstance,  and 
accessory  to  the  principal  and  spiritual  duties.  Upon  the 
Christian  sabbath  necessity  is  to  be  served  first ;  then,  cha- 
rity ;  and  then  religion ;  for  this  is  to  give  place  to  cha- 
rity, in  great  instances,  and  the  second  to  the  first,  in  all ; 
and,  in  all  cases,  God  is  to  be  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in 
truth. 

3.  The  Lord's  day,  being  the  remembrance  of  a  great 
blessing,  must  be  a  day  of  joy,  festivity,  spiritual  rejoicing, 
and  thanksgiving  :  and  therefore  it  is  a  proper  work  of  the 
day,  to  let  your  devotions  spend  themselves  in  singing  or 
reading  psalms  ;  in  recounting  the  great  works  of  God ; 
in  remembering  his  mercies  ;  in  worshipping  his  excellen- 
cies ;  in  celebrating  his  attributes  ;  in  admiring  his  per- 
son ;  in  sending  portions  of  pleasant  meat  to  them,  for 
whom  nothing  is  provided;  and  in  all  the  arts  and  instru- 
ments of  advancing  God's  glory,  and  the  reputation  of  re- 
ligion :  in  which  it  were  a  great  decency  that  a  memorial 
of  the  resurrection  should  be  inserted,  that  the  particular 
religion  of  the  day  be  not  swallowed  up  in  the  general. 
And  of  this  we  may  the  more  easily  serve  ourselves,  by  ri- 
sing seasonably  in  the  morning  to  private  devotion,  and  by 
retiring  at  the  leisures  and  spaces  of  the  day,  not  employed 
in  public  offices. 

4.  Fail  not  to  be  present  at  the  public  hours  and  places 
of  prayer,  entering  early  and  cheerfully,  attending  reve- 

T 


194 


OF  KEEPING  THE 


rently  and  devoutly,  abiding  patiently  during  the  whole 
office,  piously  assisting  at  the  prayers,  and  gladly  also 
hearing  the  sermon  ;  and,  at  no  hand,  omitting  to  receive 
the  holy  communion,  when  it  is  offered,  (unless  some  great 
reason  excuse  it,)  this  being  the  great  solemnity  of  thanks- 
giving, and  a  proper  work  of  the  day. 

5.  After  the  solemnities  are  past,  and  in  the  intervals 
between  the  morning  and  evening  devotion,  (as  you  shall 
find  opportunity,)  visit  sick  persons,  reconcile  differences, 
do  offices  of  neighbourhood,  inquire  into  the  needs  of  the 
poor,  especially  housekeepers,  relieve  them,  as  they  shall 
need,  and  as  you  are  able  ;  for  then  we  truly  rejoice  in 
God,  when  we  make  our  neighbours,  the  poor  members  of 
Christ,  rejoice  together  with  us. 

6.  Whatsoever  you  are  to  do  yourself,  as  necessary,  you 
are  to  take  care,  that  others  also,  who  are  under  your 
charge,  do  in  their  station  and  manner.  Let  your  servants 
be  called  to  church,  and  all  your  family,  that  can  be  spared 
from  necessary  and  great  household  ministries  :  those  that 
cannot  let  them  go  by  turns,  and  be  supplied  otherwise, 
as  well  as  they  may :  and  provide,  on  these  days  especially, 
that  they  be  instructed  in  the  articles  of  faith  and  necessary 
parts  of  their  duty. 

7.  Those,  who  labour  hard  in  the  w^eek,  must  be  eased 
upon  the  Lord's  day  ;  such  ease  being  a  great  charity  and 
alms :  but,  at  no  hand,  must  they  be  permitted  to  use  any 
unlawful  games,  any  thing  forbidden  by  the  laws,  any 
thing  that  is  scandalous,  or  any  thing  that  is  dangerous  and 
apt  to  mingle  sin  with  it ;  no  games  prompting  to  wanton- 
ness, to  drunkenness,  to  quarrelling,  to  ridiculous  and  su- 
perstitious customs ;  but  let  their  refreshments  be  innocent, 
and  charitable,  and  of  good  report,  and  not  exclusive  of  the 
duties  of  religion. 

8.  Beyond  these  bounds,  because  neither  God  nor  man 
hath  passed  any  obligation  upon  us,  we  must  preserve  our 
Christian  liberty,  and  not  suffer  ourselves  to  be  entangled 
with  a  yoke  of  bondage :  for  even  a  good  action  may  be- 
come a  snare  to  us,  if  we  make  it  an  occasion  of  scruple 
bv  a  pretence  of  necessity,  binding  loads  upon  the  con- 
science not  with  the  bands  of  God,  but  of  men,  and  of  fan- 
cv,  or  of  opinion,  or  of  tvranny.  Whatsoever  is  laid  upon 
us  by  the  hands  of  man,"  must  be  acted  and  accounted  of 
by  the  measures  of  a  man.:   but  our  best  measure  is  this  ; 


LORD'S  DAY,  ETC.  I95 

he  keeps  the  Lord's  day  best,  that  keeps  it  with  most  reli- 
gion and  with  most  charity. 

9.  What  the  church  hath  done  in  the  article  of  the  re- 
surrection, she  hath  in  some  measure  done,  in  the  other 
articles  of  the  nativity,  of  the  ascension,  and  of  the  descent 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  at  Pentecost:  and  so  great  blessings 
deserve  an  universal  solemnity  ;  since  he  is  a  very  unthank- 
ful person,  that  docs  not  often  record  them  in  the  whole 
year,  and  esteem  them  the  ground  of  his  hopes,  the  object 
of  his  faith,  the  comfort  of  his  troubles,  and  the  great  efflux- 
es of  the  Divine  mercy,  greater  than  all  the  victories  over 
our  temporal  enemies,  for  which  all  glad  persons  usually 
give  thanks.  And  if,  with  great  reason,  the  memory  of  the 
resurrection  does  return  solemnly  every  week,  it  is  but  rea- 
son, the  other  should  return  once  a  year.  To  which  I  add, 
that  the  commemoration  of  the  articles  of  our  Creed  in  so- 
lemn days  and  offices  is  a  very  excellent  instrument  to 
convey  and  imprint  the  sense  and  memory  of  it  upon  the 
spirits  of  the  most  ignorant  persons.  For,  as  a  picture 
may,  with  more  fancy,  convey  a  story  to  a  man,  than  a  plain 
narrative  either  in  word  or  writing:  so  a  real  representment, 
and  an  office  of  remembrance,  and  a  day  to  declare  it,  is  far 
more  impressive  than  a  picture,  or  any  other  art  of  making 
and  fixing  imagery. 

10.  The  memories  of  the  saints  are  precious  to  God,  and 
therefore  they  ought  also  to  be  so  to  us  :  and  such  persons, 
who  served  God  by  holy  living,  industrious  preaching,  and 
religious  dying,  ought  to  have  their  names  preserved  in 
honour,  and  God  be  glorified  in  them,  and  their  holy  doc- 
trines and  lives  published  and  imitated :  and  we,  by  so  doing, 
give  testimony  to  the  article  of  the  communion  of  saints. 
But,  in  these  cases,  as  every  church  is  to  be  sparing  in  the 
number  of  days,  so  also  should  she  be  temperate  in  her  in- 
junctions, not  imposing  them  but  upon  voluntary  and  unbu- 
sied  persons,  without  snare  or  burden.  But  the  holy  day  is 
best  kept,  by  giving  God  thanks  for  the  excellent  persons, 
apostles,  or  martyrs,  we  then  remember,  and  by  imitating 
their  lives ;  this  all  may  do :  and  they,  that  can  also  keep 
the  solemnnity,  must  do  that  too,  when  it  is  publicly  en- 
joined. 

The  mixed  actions  of  Religion  are,  1.  Prayer,  2.  Alms^ 
3.  Repentance^  4.  Receiving  the  blessed  Sacrament, 


196  OF  PRAYER 

SECTION  VII. 
Of  Prayer. 
There  is  no  greater  argument  in  the  world,  of  our  spi- 
ritual danger  and  unwillingness  to  religion,  than  the  back- 
wardness Avhich  most  men  have  always,  and  all  men  have 
sometimes,  to  say  their  prayers :  so  weary  of  their  length, 
so  glad  when  they  are  done,  so  witty  to  excuse  and  frus- 
trate an  opportunity  :  and  yet  all  is  nothing  but  a  desiring 
of  God  to  give  us  the  greatest  and  the  best  things  we  can 
need,  and  which  can  make  us  happy  :  it  is  a  work  so  easy, 
so  honourable,  and  to  so  great  purpose,  that  in  all  the  in- 
stances of  religion  and  providence,  (except  only  the  incar- 
nation of  his  Son,)  God  hath  not  given  us  a  greater  argu- 
ment of  his  willingness  to  have  us  saved,  and  of  our  un- 
willingness to  accept  it,  his  goodness  and  our  gracelessness, 
his  infinite  condescension  and  our  carelessness  and  folly, 
than  by  rewarding  so  easy  a  duty  with  so  great  blessings. 

Motives  to  Prayer. 
I  cannot  say  any  thing  beyond  this  very  consideration 
and  its  appendages  to  invite  christian  people  to  pray  often. 
But  we  may  consider  that,  1.  It  is  a  duty  commanded  by 
God  and  his  holy  Son.  2.  It  is  an  act  of  grace  and  high- 
est honour,  that  we,  dust  and  ashes,  are  admitted  to  speak 
to  the  eternal  God,  to  run  to  him  as  to  a  father,  to  lay  open 
our  wants,  to  complain  of  our  burdens,  to  explicate  our 
scruples,  to  beg  remedy  and  ease,  support  and  counsel, 
health  and  safety,  deliverance  and  salvation.  And,  3.  God 
hath  invited  us  to  it  by  many  gracious  promises  of  hearing 
us.  4.  He  hath  appointed  his  most  glorious  Son  to  be  the 
precedent  of  prayer,  and  to  make  continual  intercession 
for  us  to  the  throne  of  grace.  5.  He  hath  appointed  an 
angel  to  present  the  prayers  of  his  servants.  And,  6. 
Christ  unites  them  to  his  own,  and  sanctifies  them,  and 
makes  them  effective  and  prevalent :  and,  7.  hath  put  it 
into  the  hands  of  men  to  rescind,  or  alter  all  the  decrees 
of  God,  which  are  of  one  kind,  (that  is,  conditional,  and 
concerning  ourselves  and  our  final  estate,  and  many  in- 
stances of  our  intermedial  or  temporal,)  by  the  power  of 
prayers.  8.  And  the  prayers  of  men  have  saved  cities  and 
kingdoms  from  ruin  :  prayer  hath  raised  dead  men  to  life, 
hath  stopped  the  violence  of  fire,  shut  the  mouths  of  wild 


OF  PRAYER.  197 

beasts,  hath  altered  the  course  of  nature,  caused  rain  in 
Egypt,  and  drought  in  the  sea ;  it  made  the  sun  to  go  from 
west  to  east,  and  the  moon  to  stand  still,  and  rocks  and 
mountains  to  walk ;  and  it  cures  diseases  without  physic, 
and  makes  physic  to  do  the  work  of  nature,  and  nature  to 
do  the  work  of  grace,  and  grace  to  do  the  work  of  God , 
and  it  does  miracles  of  accident  and  event :  and  yet  prayer, 
that  does  all  this,  is,  of  itself,  nothing  but  an  ascent  of  the 
mind  to  God,  a  desiring  things  fit  to  be  desired,  and  an 
expression  of  this  desire  to  God,  as  we  can,  and  as  becomes 
us.  And  our  unwillingness  to  pray,  is  nothing  else  but  a 
not  desiring,  what  we  ought  passionately  to  long  for ;  or, 
if  we  do  desire  it,  it  is  a  choosing  rather  to  miss  our  satis- 
faction and  felicity,  than  to  ask  for  it. 

There  is  no  more  to  be  said  in  this  affair,  but  that  we 
reduce  it  to  practice,  according  to  the  following  rules. 

Rules  for  the  Practice  of  Prayer. 

1.  We  must  be  careful,  that  we  never  ask  any  thing 
of  God  that  is  sinful,  or  that  directly  ministers  to  sin  :  for 
that  is  to  ask  of  God  to  dishonour  himself,  and  to  undo 
us.  We  had  need  consider  what  we  pray ;  for  before  it 
returns  in  blessing,  it  must  be  joined  with  Christ's  in- 
tercession, and  presented  to  God.  Let  us  principally  ask 
of  God  power  and  assistances  to  do  our  duty,  to  glorify 
God,  to  do  good  works,  to  live  a  good  life,  to  die  in  the 
fear  and  favour  oF  God,  and  eternal  life  :  these  things  God 
delights  to  give,  and  commands  that  we  shall  ask,  and  we 
may,  with  confidence,  expect  to  be  answered  graciously  ;  for 
these  things  are  promised  without  any  reservation  of  a  se- 
cret condition :  if  we  ask  them,  and  do  our  duty  towards 
the  obtaining  them,  we  are  sure  never  to  miss  them. 

2.  We  may  lawfully  pray  to  God  for  the  gifts  of  the 
Spirit,  that  minister  to  holy  ends ;  such  as  are  the  gift  of 
preaching,  the  spirit  of  prayer,  good  expression,  a  ready 
and  unloosed  tongue,  good  understanding,  learning,  oppor- 
tunities to  publish  them,  &;c.  with  these  only  restraints  : 
1.  That  we  cannot  be  so  confident  of  the  event  of  those 
prayers  as  of  the  former.  2.  That  we  must  be  curious  to 
secure  our  intention  in  these  desires,  that  we  may  not  ask 
them  to  serve  our  own  ends,  but  only  for  God's  glory  ;  and 
then  we  shall  have  them,  or  a  blessing  for  desiring  them. 
In  order  to  such  purposes,  our  intentions  in  the  first  de- 

t2 


198  OF  PRAYER. 

sires  cannot  be  amiss ;  because  they  are  able  to  sanctify 
other  things,  and  therefore  cannot  be  unhallowed  them- 
selves. 3.  We  must  submit  to  God's  Avill,  desiring  him  to 
choose  our  employment,  and  to  furnish  our  persons  as  he 
shall  see  expedient. 

3.  Whatsoever  we  may  lawfully  desire  of  temporal  things, 
we  may  lawfully  ask  of  God  in  prayer,  and  we  may  ex- 
pect them,  as  they  are  promised.  1.  Whatsoever  is  neces- 
sary to  our  life  and  being,  is  promised  to  us  :  and  therefore 
we  may,  with  certainty,  expect  food  and  raiment ;  food  to 
keej)  us  alive,  clothing  to  keep  us  from  nakedness  and 
shame  :  so  long  as  our  life  is  permitted  to  us,  so  long  all 
things  necessary  to  our  life  shall  be  ministered.  We  may 
be  secure  of  maintenance,  but  not  secure  of  our  life;  for 
that  is  promised,  not  this  :  only  concerning  food  and  raiment 
we  are  not  to  make  accounts  by  the  measure  of  our  desires, 
but  by  the  measure  of  our  needs.  2.  Whatsoever  is  con- 
venient for  us,  pleasant,  and  modestly  delectable,  we  may 
pray  for:  so  we  do  it,  1.  With  submission  to  God's  will. 
2.  Without  impatient  desires.  3.  That  it  be  not  a  tritle 
and  inconsiderable,  but  a  matter  so  grave  and  concerning, 
as  to  be  a  fit  matter  to  be  treated  on,  between  God  and  our 
souls.  4.  That  we  ask  it  not  to  spend  upon  our  lusts,  but 
for  ends  of  justice,  or  charity,  or  religion,  and  that  they  be 
employed  with  sobriety. 

4.  He  that  would  pray  with  eflect,  must  live  with  care  and 
piety.*  For  although  God  gives  to  sinViers  and  evil  per- 
sons the  common  blessings  of  life  and  chance  ;  yet  either 
they  want  the  comfort  and  blessing  of  those  blessings,  or 
they  become  occasions  of  sadder  accidents  to  them,  or 
serve  to  upbraid  them  in  their  ingratitude  or  irreligion  : 
and,  in  all  cases,  they  are  not  the  effects  of  prayer,  or  the 
fruits  of  promise,  or  instances  of  a  father's  love  ;  for  they 
cannot  be  expected  with  confidence,  or  received  without 
danger,  or  used  without  a  curse  and  mischief  in  their  com- 
j>any.  But  as  all  sin  is  an  impediment  to  prayer,  so  some 
iiave  a  special  indisposition  towards  acceptation:  such  are 
uncharitableness  and  wrath,  hypocrisy  in  the  present  ac- 
tion,  pride,  and  lust:  because  these,  by  defiling  the  body 
or  the  spirit,  or  by  contradicting  some  necessary  ingredient 
in  prayer,  (such  as  are  mercy,  humility,  purity,  and  sin- 

*  John  iii.  22.  John  ix,  31.  Isa.  i.  15.  Iviii.  9.  Mai.  iii.  10.  2  Tim.  ii.  a 
?sa\.  iv.  6.  Ixvi.  8. 


OF  i»rayi:r,  199 

corit} ,)  do  (lofjlc  the  prayer,  and  iiifikc  it  a  direct  sin,  in 
the  circumstances  or  formality  of  the  action. 

5.  All  prayer  must  be  made  with  faith  and  hope ;  that 
is,  we  must  certainly  believe*  we  shall  receive  the  grace, 
which  Cod  hath  commanded  us  to  ask  ;  and  we  must  hope 
for  such  things,  which  he  hath  permitted  us  to  ask  ;  and 
our  hope  shall  not  be  vain,  though  we  miss  what  is  not 
tibsolutely  promised ;  because  we  shall  at  least  have  an 
equal  blessing  in  the  denial,  as  in  the  grant.  And,  there- 
fore, the  former  conditions  must  first  be  secured  ;  that  is, 
that  we  ask  things  necessary,  or  at  least  good  and  inno- 
cent and  profitable,  and  that  our  persons  be  gracious  in  the 
eyes  of  God  :  or  else,  what  God  hath  promised  to  our  na- 
tural needs,  he  may,  in  many  degrees,  deny  to  our  personal 
incapacity  :  but  the  thing  being  secured,  and  the  person 
disposed,  there  can  be  no  fault  at  all ;  for  whatsoever  else 
remains,  is  on  God's  part,  and  that  cannot  possibly  faiL 
But,  because  the  things  which  are  not  commanded,  cannot 
possibly  be  secured,  (for  we  are  not  sure,  they  are  good  in 
all  circumstances,)  we  can  but  hope  for  such  things,  even 
after  we  have  secured  our  good  intentions.  We  are  sure 
of  a  blessing,  but,  in  what  instance,  we  are  not  yet  assured. 

6.  Our  prayers  must  be  fervent,  intense,  earnest,  and 
importunate,  when  we  pray  for  things  of  high  concern- 
ment and  necessity.  "  Continuing  instant  in  prayer;  striv- 
ing in  prayer;  labouring  fervently  in  prayer  ;  night  and  day, 
praying  exceedingly ;  praying  always  with  all  prayer :"  so 
St.  Paul  calls  it.f  "  Watching  unto  prayer ;"  so  St.  Peter  ::}: 
"  Praying  earnestly :"  so  St.  James. §  And  this  is  not  at 
all  to  be  abated  in  matters  spiritual  and  of  duty  :  for,  ac- 
cording as  our  desires  are,  so  are  our  prayers  ;  and  as  our 
])rayers  are,  so  shall  be  the  grace  ;  and,  as  that  is,  so  shall 
be  the  measure  of  glory.  But  this  admits  of  degrees 
according  to  the  perfection  or  imperfection  of  our  state  of 
life  :  but  it  hath  no  other  measures,  but  ought  to  be  as 
great  as  it  can  ;  the  bigger,  the  better :  v/e  must  make  no 
positive  restraints  upon  otirselves.  In  other  things,  we 
are  to  use  a  bridle :  and,  as  we  must  limit  our  desires 
with  submission  to  God's  will ;  so  also  we  must  limit  the 
i-nporlunity  of  our  prayers,  by  the  moderation  and  term 

*  Mark  xi.  24.    Jam.  i.  6,  7. 

t  Rom.  xii.  12;  xv.  30.    Col.  iv.  12.    1  Thegs.  iii.  10.    Ephes.  vi.  18. 

t  1  Pet.  iv.  7.  $  Jam.  v  16. 


•>00  CF  PRAYER. 

of  oisr  det:lrcs.     Pray  for  it  as  earnestly  as  you  may  de- 
sire it. 

7.  Oiir  desires  must  be  lastinir,  and  our  prayers  frequent^ 
assiduous,  and  continual;  not  askino-  for  a  blessing  once, 
and  then  leaving  it  ;  but  daily  renewing  our  suits,  and  ex- 
ercising our  hope,  and  faith,  and  patience,  and  long-suffer- 
ing, and  religion,  and  resignation,  and  self-denial,  in  all 
the  degrees  we  shall  be  put  to.  This  circumstance  of  duty 
our  blessed  Saviour  taught,  saying,  that  "  men  onght  al- 
ways to  pray  and  not  to  faint."*  Always  to  pray  signifies 
the  frequent  doing  of  the  duty  in  general :  but,  because  wc 
cannot  always  ask  several  things,  and  we  also  have  frequent 
need  of  the  same  things,  and  those  are  such  as  concern 
our  great  interest,  the  precept  comes  home  to  this  very 
circumstance ;  and  St.  Paul  calls  it,  "  praying  without 
ceasing,"!  and  himself  in  his  own  case  gave  a  precedent, 
"  For  this  cause  I  besought  the  Lord  thrice."  And  so  did 
our  blessed  Lord  ;  he  went  thrice  to  God  on  tlie  same  er- 
rand, with  the  same  words,  in  a  short  space,  about  half  a 
night;  for  his  time  to  solicit  his  suit  was  but  short.  And 
tlie  Philippians  were  remembered  by  the  apostle,  their 
spiritual  Father,  "  always  in  every  prayer  of  his.":{:  And 
thus  we  must  always  pray  for  the  pardon  of  our  sins,  for 
the  assistance  of  God's  grace,  for  charity,  for  life  eternal, 
never  giving  over,  till  we  die  :  and  thus  also  we  pray  for  sup- 
ply of  great  temporal  needs  in  their  several  proportions  ;  in 
all  cases  being  carious,  we  do  not  give  over,  out  of  weariness 
or  impatience.  For  God  oftentimes  defers  to  grant  our 
suit ;  because  he  loves  to  hear  us  beg  it,  and  hath  a  design 
to  give  us  more  than  we  ask,  even  a  satisfoction  of  our  de- 
sires, and  a  blessing  for  the  very  importunity. 

8.  Let  the  words  of  our  prayers  be  pertinent,  grave,  ma- 
terial, not  studiously  many,  but  according  to  our  need, 
sufficient  to  express  our  wants,  and  to  signify  our  impor- 
tunity. God  hears  us  not  the  sooner  for  our  many  words, 
but  much  the  sooner  for  an  earnest  desire ;  to  which  let 
apt  and  sufVicient  words  minister,  be  they  few  or  many, 
according  as  it  happens.  A  long  prayer  and  a  short,  differ 
not  in  their  capacities  of  being  accepted  ;  for  both  of  them 
take  their  value  according  to  (he  fervency  of  spirit,  and  the 
charity  of  the  prayer.  That  prayer  which  is  short,  by  rea- 
son of  an  impatient  spirit,  or  dulness,  or  despite  of  holy 

*  Luke  xviii.  1 ;  xxi.  36.  t  1  Thess.v.  17.  I  Phil.  i.  4. 


or  PRAYKIl.  201 

tliin^rs,  or  iridifTcrcncy  of  <Josir(;s,  is  vr-ry  often  criminal,  al- 
ways im|)(.Tf(;(-t  ;  and  (hat  i)rayer,  which  is  lon^'  out  of  os- 
tentation, or  superstition,  or  a  trifling'  spirit,  is  as  criminal 
and  imperfect  as  the  other,  in  their  Hev(;ral  instances.  Thjs 
ruh:  relates  to  private  prayer.  Jn  public,  our  devotion  is 
to  be  measured  by  the  appointed  oflice,  and  we  are  to  sup- 
port our  spirit  with  s[)iritual  arts,  that  our  private  spirit 
may  be  a  })art  of  the  public  spirit,  and  be  adopted  into  the 
society  and  blessin<,'s  of  the  communion  of  saints. 

9.  in  all  forma  of  prayer,  mi n<rlo  petition  with  thanksgiv- 
ing,', that  you  may  endear  the  present  prayer  and  the  future 
blessinn-,  by  returning  [)raise  and  thanks,  for  what  we  have 
alreafly  received.  This  is  St.  Paul's  advice,  "Be  careful 
for  nothing;  but,  in  every  thing,  by  prayer  and  suf)plica- 
tion  with  thanksgiving,  lot  your  retpiests  be  made  known 
unto  God."* 

10.  Whatever  we  beg  of  God,  let  us  also  w^ork  for  it; 
if  the  tiling  be  matter  of  duty,  or  a  consequent  to  industry. 
For  God  loves  to  bless  labour  and  to  reward  it,  but  not  to 
support  idleness.  And,  therefore,  our  blessed  Saviour,  in 
his  sermons,  joins  watchfulness  with  prayer;  for  God's 
graces  arc  but  assistances,  not  new  creations  of  the  whole 
habit,  in  every  instant  or  period  of  our  life.  Read  Scrip- 
tures; and  then  pray  to  God  for  understandirjg.  Pray 
against  temptation  :  but  you  must  also  resist  the  devil,  and 
then  he  will  flee  from  you.  Ask  of  God  competency  of 
living:  but  you  must  also  work  with  your  hands  the  things 
that  are  honest,  that  ye  may  have  to  suf)f)ly  in  time  of  need. 
We  can  but  do  our  endeavour,  and  pray  for  a  blessing,  and 
then  leave  the  success  with  God:  and  beyond  this,  we  can- 
not deliberate,  we  cannot  take  care ;  but  so  far,  we  must. 

11.  To  this  purpose  let  every  man  study  his  prayers, 
and  read  his  duty  in  his  petitions.  For  the  body  of  our 
prayer  is  the  sum  of  our  duty:  and,  as  wc  must  ask  of 
God  whatsoever  we  need  ;  so  we  must  labour  for  all  that 
we  ask.  Because  it  is  our  duty,  therefore  we  must  pray 
for  God's  grace  :  but  because  God's  grace  is  necessary, 
and  without  it  we  can  do  nothing,  we  are  sufficiently  taught, 
that  in  the  proper  matter  of  our  religious  prayers  is  the 
just  matter  of  our  duty  ;  and  if  we  shall  turn  our  prayers 
into  precepts,  we  shall  the  easier  turn  our  hearty  desires 
into  eftective  practices. 

*  Phil.  iv.  6. 


202  OF  PRAYER. 

12.  In  all  prayers,  we  must  be  careful  to  attend  our 
present  work,  having  a  present  mind,  not  wandering  upon 
inpertinent  things,  not  distant  from  our  words,  much  less 
contrary  to  them ;  and  if  our  thoughts  do  at  any  time  wan- 
der, and  divert  upon  other  objects,  bring  them  back  again 
with  prudent  and  severe  arts,-  by  all  means  striving  to  obtain 
a  diligent,  a  sober,  an  untroubled,  and  a  composed  spirit. 

13.  Let  your  posture  and  gesture  of  body  in  prayers  be 
reverent,  grave,  and  humble  :  according  to  public  order, 
or  the  best  examples;  if  it  be  in  public :  if  it  be  in  private, 
either  stand,  or  kneel,  or  lie  flat  upon  the  ground  on  your 
face,  in  your  ordinary  and  more  solemn  prayers  ;  but  in  ex- 
traordinary, casual,  and  ejaculatory  prayers,  the  reverence 
and  devotion  of  the  soul,  and  the  lifting  up  the  eyes  and 
hands  to  God  with  any  other  posture  not  indecent,  is  usual 
and  commendable ;  for  we  may  pray  in  bed,  on  horseback, 
"  every  where,"*  and  at  all  times,  and  in  all  circumstances ; 
and  it  is  well  if  we  do  so :  and  some  servants  have  not  op- 
portunity to  pray  so  often  as  they  would,  unless  they  supply 
the  appetites  of  religion  by  such  accidental  devotions. 

14.  "  Let  prayers  and  supplications  and  giving  of  thanks 
be  made  for  all  men  ;  for  kings,  and  all  that  are  in  autho- 
rity. For  this  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God 
our  Saviour."f  We,  who  must  love  our  neighbours  as 
ourselves,  must  also  pray  for  them  as  for  ourselves :  with 
this  only  difference ;  that  w^e  may  enlarge  in  our  temporal 
desires  for  kings,  and  pray  for  secular  prosperity  to  them 
with  more  importunity  than  for  ourselves ;  because  they 
need  more  to  enable  their  duty  and  government,  and  for 
the  interests  of  religion  and  justice.  This  part  of  prayer 
is  by  the  apostle  called  intercession  ;  in  which,  with  spe- 
cdal  care,  we  are  to  remember  our  relatives,  our  family,  our 
charge,  our  benefactors,  our  creditors ;  not  forgetting  to 
beg  pardon  and  charity  for  our  enemies,  and  protection 
against  them. 

15.  Rely  not  on  a  single  prayer  in  matters  of  great  con- 
cernment ;  but  make  it  as  public  as  you  can,  by  obtaining 
of  others  to  pray  for  you  :  this  being  the  great  blessing  of 
the  communion  of  saints,  that  a  prayer  united  is  strong, 
like  a  well-ordered  army ;  and  God  loves  to  be  tied  fast 
with  such  cords  of  love,  and  constrained  by  a  holy  violence. 

16.  Every  time,  that  is  not  seized  upon  by  some  other 

*  1  Tim.  ii.  8.  t  1  Tim.  ii.  2. 


OF  PRAYER.  203 

duty,  is  seasonable  enough  for  prayer :  but  let  it  be  per- 
formed as  a  solemn  duty  morning  and  evening,  that  God 
may  begin  and  end  all  our  business,  and  "the  outgoing  of 
the  morning  and  evening  may  praise  him;"  for  so  we  bless 
God,  and  God  blesses  us.  And  yet  fail  not  to  find,  or 
make  opportunities  to  worship  God  at  some  other  times  of 
the  day  ;  at  least  by  ejaculations  and  short  addresses,  more 
or  less,  longer  or  shorter,  solemnly  or  without  solemnity, 
privately  or  publicly,  as  you  can,  or  are  permitted :  always 
remembering,  that  as  every  sin  is  a  degree  of  danger  and 
unsafety ;  so  every  pious  prayer  and  well-employed  oppor- 
tunity is  a  degree  of  return  to  hope  and  pardon. 

Cautions  for  making  Vows, 

17.  A  vow  to  God  is  an  act  of  prayer,  and  a  great  de- 
gree and  instance  of  importunity,  and  an  increase  of  duty, 
by  some  new  uncommanded  instance,  or  some  more  emi- 
nent degree  of  duty,  or  frequency  of  action,  or  earnestness 
of  spirit  in  the  same.  And  because  it  hath  pleased  God, 
in  all  ages  of  the  world,  to  admit  of  intercourse  with  his 
servants  in  the  matters  of  vows,  it  is  not  ill  advice,  that 
we  make  vows  to  God  in  such  cases  in  which  we  have 
great  need,  or  great  danger.  But  let  it  be  done  according 
to  these  rules  and  by  these  cautions. 

1.  That  the  matter  of  the  vow  be  lawful.  2.  That  it  be 
useful,  in  order  to  religion  or  charity.  3.  That  it  be  grave, 
not  trifling  or  impertinent ;  but  great  in  our  proportion  of  duty 
towards  the  blessing.  4.  That  it  be  in  an  uncommanded  in- 
stance ;  that  is,  that  it  be  of  something,  or  in  some  manner, 
or  in  some  degree,  to  which  formerly  we  were  not  obliged, 
or  which  we  might  have  omitted,  without  sin.  5.  That 
it  be  done  with  prudence ;  that  is,  that  it  be  safe  in  all  the 
circumstances  of  person,  lest  we  beg  a  blessing,  and  fall 
into  a  snare.  6.  That  every  vow  of  a  new  action  be  also 
accompanied  with  a  new  degree  and  enforcement  of  our 
essential  and  unalterable  duty:  such  as  was  Jacob's  vow, 
that  (besides  the  payment  of  a  tithe)  God  should  be  his 
God :  that  so  he  might  strengthen  his  duty  to  him,  first  in 
essentials  and  precepts,  and  then,  in  additionals  and  acci- 
dentals. For  it  is  but  an  ill  tree,  that  spends  more  in 
leaves  and  suckers  and  gums,  than  in  fruit :  and  that  thank- 
fulness and  religion  is  best,  that  first  secures  duty,  and 
then    enlarges    in   counsels.      Therefore    let   every  great 


204  OF  PRAYER. 

prayer,  and  great  need,  and  great  danger,  draw  us  nearer 
to  God  by  the  approach  of  a  pious  purpose  to  live  more 
strictly :  and  let  every  mercy  of  God,  answering  that 
prayer,  produce  a  real  performance  of  it.  7.  Let  not 
young  beginners  in  religion  enlarge  their  hearts  and 
straiten  their  liberty  by  vows  of  long  continuance  :  nor 
indeed  any  one  else,  without  a  great  experince  of  himself, 
and  of  all  accidental  dangers.  Vows  of  single  actions  are 
safest,  and  proportionable  to  those  single  blessings  ever 
begged  in  such-cases  of  sudden  and  transient  importunities. 

8.  Let  no  action,  which  is  matter  of  question  and  dis- 
pute in  religion,  ever  become  the  matter  of  a  vow.  He 
vows  foolishly,  that  promises  to  God  to  live  and  die  in  such 
an  opinion,  in  an  article  not  necessary,  nor  certain ;  or  that, 
upon  confidence  of  his  present  guide,  binds  himself  for  evei 
to  the  profession  of  what  he  may  afterward,  more  reasonably 
contradict,  or  may  find  not  to  be  useful  or  not  profitable, 
but  of  some  danger,  or  of  no  necessity. 

If  we  observe  the  former  rules,  we  shall  pray  piously 
and  effectually  :  but,  because  even  this  duty  hath  in  it 
some  special  temptations,  it  is  necessary,  that  we  be  armed 
by  special  remedies  against  them.  The  dangers  are, 
I.  Wandering  thoughts;  2.  Tediousness  of  spirit.  Against 
the  first,  these  advices  are  profitable. 

Remedies  against  wandering  Thoughts  in  Prayer. 

If  we  feel  our  spirits  apt  to  wander  in  our  prayers,  and 
to  retire  into  the  world,  or  to  things  unprofitable,  or  vain 
and  impertinent — 

1.  Use  prayer  to  be  assisted  in  prayer;  pray  for  the 
spirit  of  supplication,  for  a  sober,  fixed,  and  recollected 
spirit ;  and  when  to  this  you  add  a  moral  industry  to  be 
steady  in  your  thoughts,  whatsoever  wanderings  after  this 
do  return  irremediably,  are  a  misery  of  nature,  and  an  im- 
perfection, but  no  sin,  while  it  is  not  cherished  and  in- 
dulged to. 

2.  In  private,  it  is  not  amiss  to  attempt  the  cure  by  re- 
ducing your  prayers  into  collects  and  short  forms  of  prayer, 
making  voluntary  interruptions,  and  beginning  again,  that 
the  want  of  spirit  and  breath  may  be  supplied  by  the  short 
stages  and  periods. 

3.  When  you  have  observed  any  considerable  wander- 


OF  PRAYER.  205 

ing  of  your  thoughts,  bind  yourself  to  repeat  that  prayer 
again  with  actual  attention,  or  else  revolve  the  full  sense  of 
it  in  your  spirit,  and  repeat  it  in  all  the  effect  and  desires 
of  it :  and,  possibly,  the  tempter  may  be  driven  away  with 
his  own  art,  and  may  cease  to  interpose  his  trifles,  when  he 
perceives,  they  do  but  vex  the  person  into  carefulness  and 
piety  ;  and  yet  he  loses  nothing  of  his  devotion,  but  doubles 
the  earnestness  of  his  care. 

4.  If  this  be  not  seasonable  or  opportune,  or  apt  to  any 
man's  circumstances,  yet  be  sure,  with  actual  attention,  to 
say  a  hearty  Amen  to  the  whole  prayer  with  one  united 
desire,  earnestly  begging  the  graces  mentioned  in  the 
prayer  :  for  that  desire  does  the  great  work  of  the  prayer, 
and  secures  the  blessing,  if  the  wandering  thoughts  were 
against  our  will,  and  disclaimed  by  contending  against 
them. 

5.  Avoid  multiplicity  of  business  of  the  world  ;  and  in 
those  that  are  unavoidable,  labour  for  an  evenness  and  tran- 
quillity of  spirit,  that  you  may  be  untroubled  and  smooth, 
in  all  tempests  of  fortune :  for  so  we  shall  better  tend  reli- 
gion, when  w^e  are  not  torn  in  pieces  with  the  cares  of  the 
w^orld,  and  seized  upon  with  low  affections,  passions,  and 
interest. 

6.  It  helps  much  to  attention  and  actual  advertisement  in 
our  prayers,  if  we  say  our  prayers  silently,  without  the  voice, 
only  by  the  spirit.  For,  in  mental  prayer,  if  our  thoughts 
wander,  we  only  stand  still ;  when  our  mind  returns,  we  go 
on  again  :  there  is  none  of  the  prayer  lost,  as  it  is,  if  our 
mouths  speak,  and  our  hearts  wander. 

7.  To  incite  you  to  the  use  of  these  or  any  other  coun- 
sels you  shall  meet  with,  remember,  that  it  is  a  great  in- 
decency to  desire  of  God  to  hear  those  prayers,  a  great 
part  whereof  we  do  not  hear  ourselves.  If  they  be  not 
worthy  of  our  attention,  they  are  far  more  unworthy  of 
God's. 

Signs  of  Tediousness  of  Spirit  in  our  Prayers  and  all 

Actions  of  Religion. 
The  second  temptation  in  our  prayer,  is  a  tediousness 
of  spirit,  or  a  weariness  of  the  employment ;  like  that  of 
the  Jews,  who  complained,  that  they  were  weary  of  the  new 
moons,  and  their  souls  loathed  the  frequent  return  of  their 
sabbaths :  so  do  verv  many  Christians,  who,  first,  pray 
U 


206  Of'  PRAYER. 

without  fervour  and  earnestness  of  spirit ;  and,  secondly, 
meditate  but  seldom,  and  that  without  fruit,  or  sense,  or 
affection;  or,  thirdly,  who  seldom  examine  their  con- 
sciences, and  when  they  do  it,  they  do  it  but  sleepily, 
slightly,  without  compunction,  or  hearty  purpose,  or  fruits 
of  amendment.  4.  They  enlarge  themselves  in  the  thoughts 
and  fruition  of  temporal  things,  running  for  comfort  to  them 
only  in  any  sadness  and  misfortune.  5.  They  love  not  to 
frequent  the  sacraments,  nor  any  the  instruments  of  reli- 
gion, as  sermons,  confessions,  prayers  in  public  fastings ; 
but  love  ease,  and  a  loose  undisciplined  life.  6.  They 
obey  not  their  superiors,  but  follow  their  own  judgment, 
when  their  judgment  follows  their  affections,  and  their  af- 
fections follow  sense,  and  worldly  pleasures.  7.  They 
neglect  or  dissemble,  or  defer,  or  do  not  attend  to,  the 
motions  and  inclinations  to  virtue,  which  the  Spirit  of  God 
puts  into  their  soul.  8.  They  repent  them  of  their  vows 
and  holy  purposes,  not  because  they  discover  any  indis- 
cretion in  them,  or  intolerable  inconvenience,  but  because 
they  have  within  them  labour,  (as  the  case  now  stands,)  to 
them  displeasure.  9.  They  content  themselves  with  the 
first  degrees  and  necessary  parts  of  virtue  ;  and,  when  they 
are  arrived  thither,  they  sit  down,  as  if  they  were  come  to 
the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  and  care  not  to  proceed  on  to- 
ward perfection.  10.  They  inquire  into  all  cases,  in  which 
it  may  be  lawful  to  omit  a  duty ;  and,  though  they  will 
not  do  less  than  they  are  bound  to,  yet  they  will  do  no 
more  than  needs  must ;  for  they  do  out  of  fear  and  self- 
love,  not  out  of  the  love  of  God,  or  the  spirit  of  holiness 
and  zeal.  The  event  of  which  will  be  this  :  he,  that  will 
do  no  more  than  needs  must,  will  soon  be  brought  to  omit 
something  of  his  duty,  and  will  be  apt  to  believe  less  to  be 
necessary,  than  is. 

Remedies  against  Tediousness  of  Spirit. 
The  remedies  against  this  temptation  are  these ; — 
1.  Order  your  private  devotions  so,  that  they  become 
not  arguments  and  causes  of  tediousness  by  their  indis- 
creet length  ;  but  reduce  your  words  into  a  narrower  com- 
pass, still  keeping  all  the  matter,  and  what  is  cut  off  in  the 
length  of  your  prayers,  supply  in  the  earnestness  of  your 
spirit :  for  so  nothing  is  lost,  while  the  words  are  changed 
into  matter,  and  length  of  time  into  fervency  of  devotion. 


or  pr.AY::R.  207 

The  forms  are  made  not  the  less  perfect,  and  the  spirit  is 
m-^re,  and  the  scruple  is  removed. 

2.  It  is  not  imprudent,  if  we  provide  variety  of  forms  of 
prayer  to  the  same  purposes,  that  the  change,  by  consult- 
ing with  the  appetites  of  fancy  may  better  entertain  the 
spirit :  and,  possibly,  we  may  be  pleased  to  recite  a  hymn, 
when  a  collect  seems  flat  to  us  and  unpleasant ;  and  we 
are  willing  to  sing  rather  than  to  say,  or  to  sing  this  rather 
than  that:  we  are  certain  that  variety  is  delightful;  and 
whether  that  be  natural  to  us,  or  an  imperfection,  yet  if 
it  be  complied  with,  it  may  remove  some  part  of  the 
temptation. 

3.  Break  your  office  and  devotion  into  fragments,  and 
make  frequent  rcturnings  by  ejaculations  and  abrupt  inter- 
courses with  God  ;  for  so,  no  length  can  oppress  your  ten- 
derness and  sickliness  of  spirit;  and,  by  often  praying  in 
such  manner,  and  in  all  circumstances,  we  shall  habituate 
our  souls  to  prayer,  by  making  it  the  business  of  many 
lesser  portions  of  our  time  ;  and,  by  thrusting  it  in  between 
all  our  other  employments,  it  will  make  every  thing  relish  of 
religion,  and  by  degrees  turn  all  into  its  nature. 

4.  Learn  to  abstract  your  thoughts  and  desires  from 
pleasures  and  things  of  this  world.  For  nothing  is  a  direct 
cure  to  this  evil,  but  cutting  off  all  other  loves  and  adhe- 
rences.  Order  your  affairs  so,  that  religion  may  be  pro- 
pounded to  you  as  a  reward,  and  prayer  as  your  defence,  and 
holy  actions  as  your  security,  and  charity  and  good  works 
as  your  treasure.  Consider  that  all  things  else  are  satisfac- 
tions  but  to  the  brutish  part  of  a  man  ;  and  that  these  are 
the  refreshments  and  relishes  of  that  noble  part  of  us,  by 
which  we  are  better  than  beasts,  and  whatsoever  other  in- 
strument, exercise,  or  consideration,  is  of  use  to  take  our 
loves  from  the  world,  the  same  is  apt  to  place  them  upon 
God. 

5.  Do  not  seek  for  deliciousness  and  sensible  consola- 
tions in  the  actions  of  religion ;  but  only  regard  the  duty 
and  the  conscience  of  it.  For,  although  in  the  beginning 
of  religion,  most  frequently,  and,  at  some  other  times,  irre- 
gularly, God  complies  with  our  infirmity,  and  encourages 
our  duty  with  little  overflowings  of  spiritual  joy,  and  sensi- 
ble pleasure,  and  delicacies  in  prayer,  so  as  we  seem  to 
feel  some  little  beam  of  heaven,  and  great  refreshments 


208  OF  PRAYER. 

from  the  Spirit  of  consolation  ;  yet  this  is  not  always  safe 
for  us  to  have,  neither  safe  for  us  to  expect  and  look  for  : 
and  when  we  do,  it  is  apt  to  make  us  cool  in  our  inquiries 
and  waitings  upon  Christ,  when  we  want  them :  it  is  a  run- 
ning after  him,  not  for  the  miracles,  but  for  the  loaves  ; 
not  for  the  wonderful  things  of  God,  and  the  desires  of 
pleasing  him,  but  for  the  pleasure  of  pleasing  ourselves. 
And,  as  we  must  not  judge  our  devotion  to  be  barren  or 
unfruitful,  when  we  want  the  overflowings  of  joy  running 
over  :  so  neither  must  w^e  cease,  for  want  of  them.  If  our 
spirits  can  serve  God  choosingly  and  greedily,  out  of  pure 
conscience  of  our  duty,  it  is  better  in  itself,  and  more  safe 
to  us. 

6.  Let  him  use  to  soften  his  spirit  with  frequent  medita- 
tation  upon  sad  and  dolorous  objects,  as  of  death,  the  ter- 
rors of  the  day  of  judgment,  fearful  judgments  upon  sin- 
ners, strange  horrid  accidents,  fear  of  God's  wrath,  the 
pains  of  hell,  the  unspeakable  amazements  of  the  damned, 
the  intolerable  load  of  a  sad  eternity.  For  whatsoever  creates 
fear,  or  makes  the  spirit  to  dwell  in  a  religious  sadness,  is 
apt  to  entender  the  spirit,  and  make  it  devout  and  pliant  to 
any  part  of  duty.  For  a  great  fear,  when  it  is  ill  managed, 
is  the  parent  of  superstition  ;  but  a  discreet  and  w^ell-guided 
fear  produces  religion. 

7.  Pray  often  and  you  shall  pray  oftener ;  and,  when 
you  are  accustomed  to  a  frequent  devotion,  it  will  so  in- 
sensibly unite  to  your  nature  and  affections,  that  it  will 
become  trouble  to  omit  your  usual  or  appointed  prayers: 
and  what  you  obtain,  at  first,  by  doing  violence  to  your 
inclinations,  at  last,  will  not  be  left,  without  as  great"  un- 
willingness, as  that,  by  w^hich  at  first  it  entered.  This  rule 
relies  not  only  upon  reason  derived  from  the  nature  of  ha- 
bits, which  turn  into  a  second  nature,  and  make  their  ac- 
tions easy,  frequent,  and  delightful,  but  it  relies  upon  a 
reason,  depending  upon  the  nature  and  constitution  of 
grace  ;  whose  productions  are  of  the  same  nature  with  the 
parent,  and  increases  itself,  naturally  growing  from  grains 
to  huge  trees,  from  minutes  to  vast  proportions,  and  from 
moments  to  eternity.  But  be  sure  not  to  omit  your  usual 
prayers  without  great  reason,  though,  without  sin,  it  may 
be  done ;  because  after  you  have  omitted  something,  in  a 
little  while  you  will  be  past  the  scruple  of  that,  and  begin 


OF  PRAYER.  209 

to  be  tempted  to  leave  out  more.  Keep  yourself  up  to 
your  usual  forms  :  you  may  enlarge,  when  you  will  ;  but 
do  not  contract  or  lessen  them,  without  a  very  probable 
reason. 

8.  Let  a  man,  frequently  and  seriously,  by  imagination, 
place  himself  upon  his  death-bed,  and  consider  what  great 
joys  he  shall  have  for  the  remembrance  of  every  day  well 
S|)ent,  and  what  then  he  would  give  that  he  had  so  spent 
all  his  days.  He  may  guess  at  it  by  proportions ;  for  it  is 
certain,  he  shall  have  a  joyful  and  prosperous  night,  who 
hath  spent  his  day  holily  ;  and  he  resigns  his  soul  with 
peace  into  the  hands  of  God,  who  hath  lived  in  the  peace 
of  God  and  the  works  of  religion,  in  his  life-time.  This 
consideration  is  of  a  real  event ;  it  is  of  a  thing,  that  will 
certainly  come  to  pass.  "  It  is  appointed  for  all  men  once 
to  die ;"  and,  after  death,  comes  judgment ;  the  apprehension 
of  which  is  dreadful,  and  the  presence  of  it  is  intolerable  ; 
unless,  by  religion  and  sanctity,  we  are  disposed  for  so  ve- 
nerable an  appearance. 

9.  To  this  may  be  useful,  that  we  consider  the  easiness 
of  Christ's  yoke,  the  excellencies  and  sweetnesses  that  are 
in  religion,  the  peace  of  conscience,  the  joy  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  rejoicing  in  God,  the  simplicity  and  pleasure  of 
virtue,  the  intricacy,  trouble,  and  business  of  sin ;  the 
blessings,  and  health,  and  reward  of  that ;  the  curses,  the 
sicknesses,  and  sad  consequences  of  this ;  and  that,  if  we 
are  weary  of  the  labours  of  religion,  we  must  eternally  sit 
still,  and  do  nothing :  for  whatsoever  we  do  contrary  to  it, 
is  infinitely  more  full  of  labour,  care,  difficulty,  and  vex- 
ation. 

10.  Consider  this  also,  that  tediousness  of  spirit  is  the 
beginning  of  the  most  dangerous  condition  and  estate  in 
the  whole  world.  For  it  is  a  great  disposition  to  the  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost :  it  is  apt  to  bring  a  man  to  back- 
sliding and  the  state  of  unregeneration  ;  to  make  him  re- 
turn to  his  vomit  and  his  sink  ;  and  either  to  make  the  man 
impatient,  or  his  condition  scrupulous,  unsatisfied,  irksome, 
and  desperate  :  and  it  is  better,  that  he  had  never  known 
the  way  of  godliness,  than,  after  the  knowledge  of  it,  that 
he  should  fall  away.  There  is  not  in  the  world  a  greater 
sign  that  the  spirit  of  reprobation  is  beginning  upon  a  man, 
than  when  he  is  habitually  and  constantly,  or  very  frequent- 
ly, weary,  and  slights,  or  loathes,  ho!v  otfices. 

v2 


210  OF  ALMS. 

11.  The  last  remedy  that  j^rcsorves  (lie  hope  of  such  a 
man,  and  can  reduce  him  to  the  state  of  zeal  and  the  love 
of  God,  is  a  pungent,  sad,  and  a  heavy  rdiliction;  not  des- 
perate, but  recreated  with  some  intervals  of  kindness,  or 
little  comforts,  or  entertained  with  hopes  of  deliverance; 
which  condition  if  a  man  shall  fall  into,  by  the  grace  of  God 
he  is  likely  to  recover ;  but,  if  this  help  him  not,  it  is  infi- 
nite odds,  but  he  will  quench  the  Spirit. 

SECTION  VIII. 

Of  Alms. 
Love  is  as  communicative  as  fire,  as  busy  and  as  active, 
and  it  hath  four  twin-daughters,  extreme  like  each  other  ; 
and  but  that  the  doctors  of  the  scliool  have  done,  as  Tha- 
mar's  midwife  did,  who  bound  a  scarlet  thread,  something 
to  distinguish  them,  it  would  be  very  hard  to  call  them 
asunder.  Their  names  are,  1.  Mercy;  2.  Beneficence,  or 
well-doing:  3.  Liberality  ;  and,  4.  Alms;  Avhich,  by  a  spe- 
cial privilege,  hath  obtained  to  be  called  after  the  mother's 
name,  and  is  commonly  called  charity.  The  first  or  eldest 
is  seated  in  the  afiection  ;  and  it  is  that  which  all  the  other 
must  attend.  For  mercy  without  alms  is  acceptable,  when 
the  person  is  disabled  to  express  outwardly,  what  he  hear- 
tily desires.  But  alms,  without  mercy,  are  like  prayers 
without  devotion,  or  religion  without  humility.  2.  Bene- 
ficence, or  well-doing,  is  a  ])romptness  and  nobleness  of 
mind,  making  us  to  do  offices  of  courtesy  and  humanity  to 
all  sorts  of  persons  in  their  need,  or  out  of  their  need.  3. 
Jjiberality  is  a  disposition  of  mind  opposite  to  covetous- 
ness  ;  and  consists  in  the  despite  and  neglect  of  money 
upon  just  occasions,  and  relates  to  our  friends,  children, 
kindred,  servants,  and  other  relatives.  4.  But  alms  is  a 
relieving  the  poor  and  needy.  The  first  and  the  last  only 
are  duties  of  Ciu-istianity.  The  second  and  third  are  cir- 
cumstances and  adjuncts  of  these  duties  :  for  liberality  in- 
creases the  degree  of  alms,  making  our  gift  greater;  and 
beneficence  extends  it  to  more  persons  and  orders  of  men, 
spreading  it  wider.  The  former  makes  us  sometimes  to 
give  more  than  we  are  able  ;  and  the  latter  gives  to  more 
than  need  by  the  necessity  of  beggars,  and  serves  the  needs 
and  conveniences  of  persons,  and  supplies  circumstances : 
whereas,  properly,  alms  are  doles  and  largesses  to  the  ne- 


OF  ALMS.  211 

ccssitous  and  calamitous  j)coj)lc',  supplying  the  necessities 
of  nature,  and  ^nvin',''  remedies  to  their  miseries. 

Mercy  and  alms  are  the  body  and  soul  of  that  charity, 
which  \vc  must  j^ay  to  our  neighbour's  need  :  and  it  is  a 
j)recept,  which  God  therefore  enjoined  to  the  world,  that 
the  great  inequality,  which  he  was  pleased  to  sutler  in  the 
possessions  and  accidents  of  men,  might  be  reduced  to 
some  temper  and  evenness ;  and  the  most  miserable  per- 
son might  be  reconciled  to  some  sense  and  participation  of 
felicity. 

Works  of  Mercy,  or  the  several  Kinds  of  Corporal  Alms. 

The  works  of  mercy  are  so  many,  as  the  aflcctions  of 
mercy  have  objects,  or  as  the  world  hath  kinds  of  misery. 
Men  want  meat,  or  drink,  or  clothes,  or  a  house,  or  liberty, 
or  attendance,  or  a  grave.  In  proportion  to  these,  seven 
works  are  usually  assigned  to  mercy,  and  there  are  seven 
kinds  of  corporal  alms  reckoned.  1.  To  feed  the  hungry.* 
2.  To  give  drink  to  the  thirsty.  3.  Or  clothes  to  the  naked. 
4.  To  redeem  cai)tives.  5.  To  visit  the  sick.  6.  To  en- 
tertain strangers.  7.  To  bury  the  dead.-j*  But  many  more 
may  be  added.  Such  as  are,  8.  To  give  physic  to  sick  per- 
sons. 9.  To  bring  cold  and  starved  people  to  warmth,  and 
to  the  fire  :  for  sometimesclothingwilInotdoit;orthis  may  be 
done,  Avlien  we  cannot  do  the  other.  10.  To  lead  the  blind 
in  right  ways.  11.  To  lend  money.  12.  To  forgive  debts. 
13.  To  remit  forfeitures.  14.  To  mend  highways  and 
bridges.  15.  To  reduce  or  guide  wandering  travellers. 
16.  To  ease  their  labours,  by  accommodating  their  work 
Avith  apt  instruments ;  or  their  journey,  with  beasts  of  car- 
riage. 17.  To  deliver  the  i)oor  from  their  oppressors.  18. 
To  die  for  thy  brother.  19.  To  pay  maidens' dowries,  and 
to  procure  for  them  honest  and  chaste  marriages. 

Works  of  Spiritual  Alms  and  Mercy  are, 
1.  To  teach  the  ignorant.  2.  To  counsel  doubting  per- 
sons. 3.  To  admonish  sinners  diligently,  prudently,  sea- 
sonably, and  charitably :  to  which  also  may  be  reduced, 
provoking  and  encouraging  to  good  works. :|:  4.  To  com- 
fort the  afflicted.  5.  To  pardon  offenders.  G.  To  succour 
and  support  the  weak.§     7.  To  pray  for  all  estates  of  men, 

*  Matt.  XXV.  35.  t  Mat!  xxvi.  12.     2Sam.  ii.  5 

X  Heb.  X.  24.  $  1  Thess.  v.  14. 


212  OF  ALMS. 

and  for  relief  to  all  their  necessities.  To  which  may  be 
added,  8.  To  punish  or  correct  refractoriness.  9.  To  be 
gentle  and  charitable,  in  censuring  the  actions  of  others, 
10.  To  establish  the  scrupulous,  wavering-,  and  inconstant 
spirits.  11.  To  confirm  the  strong.  12.  Not  to  give  scan- 
dal. 13.  To  quit  a  man  of  his  fear.  14.  To  redeem  maid- 
ens from  pj-ostitution  and  publication  of  their  bodies. 

To  both  these  kinds,  a  third  also  may  be  added  of  a 
mixed  nature,  partly  corporal,  and  partly  spiritual :  such 
are,  1.  Reconciling  enemies.  2.  Erecting  public  schools 
of  learning.  3.  Maintaining  lectures  of  divinity.  4.  Erect- 
ing colleges  of  religion  and  retirement  from  the  noises  and 
more  frequent  temptations  of  the  world.  5.  Finding  em- 
ployment for  unbusied  persons,  and  putting  children  to 
honest  trades.  For  the  particulars  of  mercy  or  alms  can- 
not be  narrower,  than  men's  needs  are  ;  and  the  old  me- 
thod of  alms  is  too  narrow  to  comprise  them  all ;  and  yet 
the  kinds  are  too  many  to  be  discoursed  of  particularly  : 
only  our  blessed  Saviour,  in  the  precept  of  alms,  uses  the 
instances  of  relieving  the  poor,  and  forgiveness  of  injuries; 
and  by  proportion  to  these,  the  rest,  w^hose  duty  is  plain, 
simple,  easy,  and  necessary,  may  be  determined.  But 
alms,  in  general,  are  to  be  disposed  of,  according  to  the 
following  rules. 

Rules  for  giving  Alms. 
1.  Let  no  man  do  alms  of  that,  which  is  none  of  his  own  ; 
for  of  that  he  is  to  make  restitution  ;  that  is  due  to  the 
owners,  not  to  the  poor :  for  every  man  hath  need  of  his 
own,  and  that  is  first  to  be  provided  for:  and  then  you 
must  think  of  the  needs  of  the  poor.  He,  that  gives  the 
poor  what  is  not  his  own,  makes  himself  a  thief,  and  the 
poor  to  be  the  receivers.  This  is  not  to  be  understood, 
as  if  it  were  unlawful  for  a  man,  that  is  not  able  to  pay  his 
debts,  to  give  smaller  alms  to  the  poor.  He  may  not  give 
such  portions,  as  can  in  any  sense  more  disable  him  to  do 
justice  ;*  but  such,  which,  if  they  were  saved,  could  not 
advance  the  other  duty,  may  retire  to  this,  and  do  here 
what  they  may,  since,  in  the  other  duty,  they  cannot  do 
what  they  should.  But,  generally,  cheaters  and  robbers 
cannot  give  alms  of  what  they  have  cheated  and  robbed, 
unless  they  cannot  tell  the  persons,  whom  they  have  in- 
*  Prov.  iii.  9. 


OF  ALMS.  213 

jured,  or  tho  proportions ;  and,  in  such  cases,  they  arc  to 
give  those  unknown  j)ortions  to  the  poor  by  way  of  resti- 
tution, for  it  is  no  ahns :  only  God  is  the  supreme  Lord, 
to  whom  tliose  esclieats  devolve,  .and  the  poor  are  his 
receivers. 

2.  Of  money  unjustly  taken,  and  yet  voluntarily  parted 
with,  we  may,  and  are  bound  to,  give  alms:  such  as  is 
money  given  and  taken  for  false  witness,  bribes,  simo- 
niacal  contracts;  because  the  receiver  hath  no  right  to 
keep  it,  nor  the  giver  any  right  to  recall  it ;  it  is  unjust 
money,  and  yet  payable  to  none  but  the  supreme  Lord 
(who  is  the  person  injured)  and  to  his  delegates,  that  is, 
the  poor.  To  which  I  insert  these  cautions.  1.  If  the 
person  injured  by  the  unjust  sentence  of  a  bribed  judge, 
or  by  false  witness,  be  poor,  he  is  the  proper  object  and  bo- 
som to  whom  the  restitution  is  to  be  made.  2.  In  case  of 
simony,  the  church,  to  whom  the  simony  was  injurious,  is 
the  lap,  into  which  the  restitution  is  to  be  poured  ;  and  if 
it  be  poor,  and  out  of  repair,  the  alms,  or  restitution  (shall 
I  call  it  ])  are  to  be  paid  to  it. 

3.  There  is  some  sort  of  gain,  that  hath  in  it  no  injustice, 
properly  so  called ;  but  it  is  unlawful  and  filthy  lucre : 
such  as  is  money  taken  for  work  done  unlawfully  upon  the 
Lord's  day ;  hire  taken  for  disfiguring  one's-self,  and  for 
being  professed  jesters ;  the  wages  of  such  as  make  unjust 
bargains;  and  of  harlots:  of  this  money  there  is  some 
preparation  to  be  made,  before  it  be  given  in  alms.  The 
money  is  infected  with  the  plague,  and  must  pass  through 
the  fire  or  the  water,  before  it  be  fit  for  alms :  the  person 
must  repent  and  leave  the  crime,  and  then  minister  to  the 
poor. 

4.  He  that  gives  alms,  must  do  it  in  mercy  ;  that  is,  out 
of  a  true  sense  of  the  calamity  of  his  brother,  first  feeling 
it  in  himself,  in  some  proportion,  and  then  endeavouring 
to  ease  himself  and  the  other  of  their  common  calamity. 
Against  this  rule  they  offend  who  give  alms  out  of  custom; 
or  to  upbraid  the  poverty  of  the  other  ;  or  to  make  him 
mercenary  and  obliged ;  or  with  any  unhandsome  circum- 
stances. 

5.  He  that  gives  alms,  must  do  it  with  a  single  eye  and 
heart,  that  is,  without  designs  to  get  the  praise  of  men ; 
and,  if  he  secures  that,  he  may  either  give  them  publicly 
or  privately  :  foi    'Christ  intended  only  to  provide  against 


214  OF  ALMS. 

pride  and  hypocrisy,  when  he  bade  alms  to  be  given  in  se- 
cret ;  it  being  otherwise  one  of  his  commandments,  "  that 
our  light  should  shine  before  men  :"  this  is  more  excellent ; 
that  is  more  safe. 

6.  To  this  also  appertains,  that  he  who  hath  done  a 
good  turn,  should  so  forget  it,  as  not  to  speak  of  it :  but  he 
that  boasts  it,  or  upbraids  it,  hath  paid  himself,  and  lost  the 
nobleness  of  the  charity. 

7.  Give  alms  with  a  cheerful  heart  and  countenance ; 
"  not  grudgingly  or  of  necessity,  for  God  loveth  a  cheerful 
giver;"*  and  therefore  give  quickly,  when  the  power  is  in 
thy  hand,  and  the  need  is  in  thy  neighbour,  and  thy  neigh- 
bour at  thy  door.     He  gives  twice  that  relieves  speedily. 

8.  According  to  thy  ability,  give  to  all  men  that  need  :t 
and,  in  equal  needs,  to  give  first  to  good  men,  rather  than  to 
bad  men  ;  and  if  the  needs  be  unequal,  do  so  too ;  pro- 
vided that  the  need  of  the  poorest  be  not  violent  or  ex- 
treme :  but,  if  an  evil  man  be  in  extreme  necessity,  he  is 
to  be  relieved,  rather  than  a  good  man,  who  can  tarry 
longer,  and  may  subsist  without  it.  And,  if  he  be  a  good 
man,  he  will  desire  it  should  be  so :  because  himself  is 
bound  to  save  the  life  of  his  brother  with  doing  some  in- 
convenience to  himself:  and  no  difference  of  virtue  or 
vice  can  make  the  ease  of  one  beggar  equal  with  the  life  of 
another. 

9.  Give  no  alms  to  vicious  persons,  if  such  alms  will 
support  their  sin  :  as  if  they  will  continue  in  idleness ;  "  if 
they  will  not  work,  neither  let  them  eat ;":}:  or  if  they  will 
spend  it  in  drunkenness,  or  wantonness  :  such  persons, 
when  they  are  reduced  to  very  great  want,  must  be  reliev- 
ed in  such  proportions,  as  may  not  relieve  their  dying  lust, 
but  may  refresh  their  faint  or  dying  bodies. 

10.  The  best  objects  of  charity  are  poor  housekeepers, 
tliat  labour  hard,  and  are  burdened  with  many  children, 
or  gentlemen  fallen  into  sad  poverty,  especially  if  by  inno- 
cent misfortune ;  (and  if  their  crimes  brought  them  into  it, 
yet  they  are  to  be  relieved  according  to  the  former  rule  :) 
persecuted  persons,  widows,  and  fatherless  children,  put- 
ting them  to  honest  trades  or  schools  of  learning.  And 
search  into  the  needs  of  numerous  and  meaner  families : 
for  there  are  many  persons  that  have  nothing  left  them  but 

*  2  Cor.  ix.  7.        t  Luke  vi.  30.    Gal.  vi.  10.         |  2  Thes.  iii.  10. 


OF  ALMS.  215 

misery  and  modesty  :  and  towards  such  we  must  add  two 
circumstances  of  ciiarity.  1.  Toiiuiuirc  them  out;  2.  'Po 
convey  our  relief  unto  them,  so  as  we  do  not  make  them 
ashamed. 

11.  Give,  looking  for  nothing  again  ;  that  is,  without  con- 
sideration of  future  advantages ;  give  to  children,  to  old 
men,  to  the  unthankful,  and  the  dying,  and  to  those  you 
shall  never  sec  again  ;  for  else  your  alms  or  courtesy  is  not 
ciiarity,  but  trafric  and  merchandise  ;  and  be  sure,  that  you 
omit  not  to  relieve  the  needs  of  your  enemy  and  the  inju- 
rious;  for  so,  possibly,  you  may  win  him  to  yourself;  but 
do  you  intend  the  winning  him  to  God. 

12.  Trust  not  your  alms  to  intermedial,  uncertain,  and 
under-dispensers  :  by  which  rule  is  not  only  intended  the 
securing  your  alms  in  the  right  channel ;  but  the  humility 
of  your  person,  and  that,  which  the  apostle  calls  "  the  la- 
bour of  love."  And  if  you  converse  in  hospitals  and  alms- 
houses, and  minister  with  your  own  hand,  what  your  heart 
hath  first  decreed,  you  will  find  your  heart  endeared  and 
made  familiar  with  the  needs  and  with  the  persons  of  the 
poor,  those  excellent  images  of  Christ. 

13.  Whatsoever  is  superfluous  in  thy  estate,  is  to  be  dis- 
pensed in  alms.  "  He,  that  hath  two  coats,  must  give  to 
him  that  hath  none;"  that  is,  he,  that  hath  beyond  his 
need,  must  give  that  which  is  beyond  it.  Only  among 
needs,  we  are  to  reckon  not  only  what  will  support  our  life, 
but  also  what  will  maintain  the  decency  of  our  estate  and 
person  ;  not  only  in  present  needs,  but  in  all  future  neces- 
sities, and  very  probable  contingencies,  but  no  farther: 
we  are  not  obliged  beyond  this,  unless  we  see  very  great, 
public,  and  calamitous  necessities.  But  yet,  if  we  do  extend 
beyond  our  measures,  and  give  more  than  w^e  are  able,  we 
have  the  Philippians  and  many  holy  persons  for  our  pre- 
cedent ;  we  have  St.  Paul  for  our  encouragement ;  we  have 
Christ  for  our  counsellor  ;  we  have  God  for  our  re  warder  ; 
and  a  great  treasure  in  heaven  for  our  recompense  and 
restitution.  But  I  propound  it  to  the  consideration  of  all 
Christian  people,  that  they  be  not  nice  and  curious,  fond 
and  indulgent  to  themselves  in  taking  accounts  of  their 
personal  conveniences :  and  that  they  make  their  propor- 
tions moderate  and  easy,  according  to  the  order  and  man- 
ner of  Christianity  :  and  the  consequent  will  be  this,  that 
the  poor  will  more  plentifully  be  relieved,  themselves  will 


216  OF  ALMS. 

be  more  able  to  do  it,  and  the  duty  will  be  less  chargeable, 
and  the  ovvners  of  estates  charged  with  fewer  accounts  in 
the  spending  them.  It  cannot  be  denied,  but,  in  the  ex- 
penses of  ail  liberal  and  great  personages,  many  things 
might  be  spared ;  some  superfluous  servants,  some  idle 
meetings,  some  unnecessary  and  imprudent  feasts,  some 
garments  too  costly,  some  unnecessary  lawsuits,  some  vain 
journeys  :  and,  when  we  are  tempted  to  such  needless  ex- 
penses, if  we  shall  descend  to  moderation,  and  lay  aside 
the  surplusage,  we  shall  find  it  with  more  profit  to  be  laid 
out  upon  the  poor  members  of  Christ,  than  upon  our  own 
with  vanity.  But  this  is  only  intended  to  be  an  advice  in 
the  manner  of  doing  alms  :  for  I  am  not  ignorant,  that  great 
variety  of  clothes  always  have  been  permitted  to  princes 
and  nobility  and  others,  in  their  proportion  ,•  and  they 
usually  give  those  clothes  as  rewards  to  servants,  and  other 
persons  needful  enough  ;  and  then  they  may  serve  their 
own  fancy  and  their  duty  too :  but  it  is  but  reason  and  re- 
ligion to  be  careful  that  they  be  given  to  such  only,  where 
duty,  or  prudent  liberality,  or  alms,  determine  them  ;  but, 
in  no  sense,  let  them  do  it  so,  as  to  minister  to  vanity,  to 
luxury,  to  prodigality.  The  like  also  is  to  be  observed  in 
other  instances  ;  and  if  we  once  give  our  minds  to  the  study 
and  arts  of  alms,  Ave  shall  find  ways  enough  to  make  this 
duty  easy,  profitable,  and  useful. 

1.  He,  that  plays  at  any  game,  must  resolve  beforehand, 
to  be  indifferent  to  win  or  lose  :  but  if  he  gives  to  the  poor 
all  that  he  wins,  it  is  better  than  to  keep  it  to  himself:  but 
it  were  better  yet,  that  he  lay  by  so  much,  as  he  is  willing 
to  lose,  and  let  the  game  alone,  and  by  giving  so  much  alms, 
traffic  for  eternity.     That  is  one  way. 

2.  Another  is  keeping  the  fasting-days  of  the  church ; 
which  if  our  condition  be  such  as  to  be  able  to  cast  our  ac- 
counts, and  make  abatements  for  our  wanting  so  many 
meals  in  the  w^iole  year,  (which  by  the  old  appointment 
did  amount  to  one  hundred  and  fifty-three,  and  since  most 
of  them  are  fallen  into  desuetude,  we  may  make  up  as 
many  of  them  as  we  please,  by  voluntary  fasts,)  we  may, 
from  hence,  find  a  considerable  relief  for  the  poor.  But  if 
we  be  not  willing  sometimes  to  fast,  that  our  brother  may 
eat,  we  should  ill  die  for  him.  St.  Martin  had  given  all 
that  he  had  in  the  world  to  the  poor  save  one  coat ;  and 
that  also  he  divided  between  two  beggars.    A  father,  in  the 


OF  ALMS.  217 

mount  of  Nitria,  was  reduced  at  last  to  the  inventory  of 
one  Testament ;  and  that  book  also  was  tempted  from  him 
by  the  needs  of  one  whom  he  thou^^lit  poorer  than  him- 
self. Greater  yet ;  St.  Paulinus  sold  himself  to  slavery 
to  redeem  a  young  man,  for  whose  captivity  his  mother 
wept  sadly  :  and  it  is  said,  that  St.  Katharine  sucked  the 
envenomed  wounds  of  a  villain,  who  had  injured  her  most 
impudently.  And  1  shall  tell  you  of  a  greater  charity  than 
all  these  put  together :  Christ  gave  himself  to  shame  and 
death  to  redeem  his  enemies  from  bondage,  and  death, 
and  hell. 

3.  Learn  of  the  frugal  man,  and  only  avoid  sordid  ac- 
tions, and  turn  good  husbands,  and  change  your  arts  of  get- 
ting into  providence  for  the  poor,  and  you  shall  soon  become 
rich  in  good  works :  and  why  should  we  not  do  as  nmch  for 
charity,  as  for  covetousness ;  for  heaven,  as  for  the  fading 
world ;  for  God  and  the  holy  Jesus,  as  for  the  needless  su- 
perfluities of  back  and  belly  ? 

14.  In  giving  alms  to  beggars  and  persons  of  that  low 
rank,  it  is  better  to  give  little  to  each,  that  we  may  give 
to  the  more  ;  so  extending  our  alms  to  many  persons  :  but 
in  charities  of  religion,  as  building  hospitals,  colleges,  and 
houses  for  devotion,  and  supplying  the  accidental  wants  of 
decayed  persons,  fallen  from  great  plenty  to  great  neces- 
sity, it  is  better  to  unite  our  alms,  than  to  disperse  them  : 
to  make  a  noble  relief  or  maintenance  to  one,  to  and  restore 
him  to  comfort,  than  to  support  only  his  natural  needs,  and 
keep  him  alive  only,  unrescued  from  sad  discomforts. 

15.  The  precept  of  alms  or  charity  binds  not  indefinitely 
to  all  the  instances  and  kinds  of  charity :  for  he  that  de- 
lights to  feed  the  poor,  and  spends  all  his  portion  that  way, 
is  not  bound  to  enter  into  prisons  and  redeem  captives:  but 
we  are  obliged,  by  the  presence  of  circumstances,  and  the 
special  disposition  of  Providence,  and  the  pitiableness  of 
an  object,  to  this  or  that  particular  act  of  charity.  The  eye 
is  the  sense  of  mercy  ;  and  the  bowels  are  its  organ ;  and 
that  enkindles  pity,  and  pity  produces  alms  :  when  the 
eye  sees  what  it  never  saw,  the  heart  will  think  what  it 
never  thought :  but,  when  we  have  an  object  present  to  our 
eye,  then  we  must  pity;  for  there  the  providence  of  God 
hath  fitted  our  charity  with  circumstances.  He,  that  is  in 
thy  sight  or  in  thy  neighbourhood,  is  fallen  into  the  lot  of 
thy  charity. 

X 


•218  OF  ALMS. 

16.  If  thou  hast  no  money,*  yet  thou  must  have  mercy  ; 
and  art  bound  to  pity  the  poor,  and  pray  for  them,  and 
throw  thy  holy  desires  and  devotions  into  the  treasure  of 
the  church  :  and  if  thou  dost  what  thou  art  able,  be  it  little 
or  great,  corporal  or  spiritual,  the  charity  of  alms  or  the 
charity  of  prayers,  a  cup  of  wine  or  a  cup  of  water,  if  it  be 
but  love  to  the  brethren,"]"  or  a  desire  to  help  all  or  any  of 
Christ's  poor,  it  shall  be  accepted  according  to  that  a  man 
hath,  not  according  to  that  he  hath  not.:{:  For  love  is  all 
this,  and  all  the  other  commandments  :  and  it  will  express 
itself,  where  it  can  ;  and  where  it  cannot,  yet  it  is  love  still ; 
and  it  is  also  sorrow,  that  it  cannot. 

Motives  to  Charity. 

The  motives  to  this  duty  are  such,  as  Holy  Scripture 
hath  propounded  to  us  by  way  of  consideration  and  propo- 
sition of  its  excellencies  and  consequent  reward.  1.  7'here  is 
no  one  duty,  which  our  blessed  Saviour  did  recommend  to 
his  disciples  with  so  repeated  an  injunction,  as  this  of  cha- 
rity and  alms.§  To  which  add  the  words  spoken  by  our 
Lord,  "  It  is  better  to  give  than  to  receive."  And  when 
we  consider,  how  great  a  blessing  it  is,  that  we  beg  not 
from  door  to  door,  it  is  a  ready  instance  of  our  thank- 
fulness to  God,  for  his  sake  to  relieve  them,  that  do. 
2.  This  duty  is  that  alone,  whereby  the  future  day  of  judg- 
ment shall  be  transacted.  For  nothing  but  charity  and 
alms  is  that,  whereby  Christ  shall  declare  the  justice  and 
mercy  of  the  eternal  sentence.  Martyrdom  itself  is  not 
there  expressed,  and  no  otherwise  involved,  but  as  it  is  the 
greatest  charity.  3.  Christ  made  himself  the  greatest  and 
daily  example  of  alms  or  charity.  He  went  up  and  down 
doing  good,  preaching  the  gospel,  and  healing  all  diseases: 
and  God  the  Father  is  imitable  by  us  in  nothing,  but  in 
purity  and  mercy.  4.  Alms,  given  to  the  poor,  redound 
to  the  emolument  of  the  giver,  both  temporal  and  eternal. |I 
5.  They  are  instrumental  to  the  remission  of  sins.  Our 
forgiveness  and  mercy  to  others  being  made  the  very  rule 
and  proportion  of  our  confidence,  and  hope,  and  our  prayer, 
to  be  forgiven  ourselves.lT  6.  It  is  a  treasure  in  heaven  ; 
it  procures  friends,  when  we  die.     It  is  reckoned,  as  done 

*  Luke  xii.  2.     Acts  iii.  6.  t  1  Pet.  i.  22.  t  2  Cor.  viu.  12. 

§  Matt.  vi.  4.    Matt.  xiii.  12.  33  ;  xxv.  15.     Luke  li.  41. 

II  Phil.  iv.  17.  IT  Acts  x.  4.    Heb.  xiii.  16.    Dan.  iv.  27. 


OF  ALMS  219 

lo  Christ,  whatsoever  we  do  to  our  poor  brother  :  and, 
therefore,  when  a  poor  man  begs  for  Clirist's  sake,  if  he 
have  reason  to  ask  for  Christ's  sake,  give  it  him,  if  thou 
canst.  Now  every  man  hath  title  to  ask  for  Christ's  sake 
whose  need  is  great,  and  himself  unable  to  cure  it,  and  if 
tlic  man  be  a  Christian.  Whatsoever  charity,  Christ  will 
reward  all  that  is  given  for  Christ's  sake,  and  therefore  it 
may  be  asked  in  his  name :  but  every  man,  that  uses  that 
sacred  name  for  an  endearment,  hath  not  a  title  to  it,  nei- 
ther he,  nor  his  need.  7.  It  is  one  of  the  wings  of  prayer, 
by  which  it  flics  to  the  throne  of  grace.  8.  It  crowns  all 
the  works  of  piety.  9.  It  causes  thanksgiving  to  God  on 
our  behalf.  10.  And  the  bowels  of  the  poor  bless  us,  and 
they  pray  for  us.  11.  And  that  portion  of  our  estate,  out 
of  which  a  tenth,  or  a  fifth,  or  a  twentieth,  or  some  offer- 
ing to  God  for  religion  and  the  poor  goes  forth,  certainly 
returns  with  a  great  blessing  upon  all  the  rest.  It  is  like 
the  effusion  of  oil  by  the  Sidonian  woman ;  as  long  as  she 
pours  into  empty  vessels,  it  could  never  cease  running :  or 
like  the  widow's  barrel  of  meal ;  it  consumed  not,  as 
long  as  she  fed  the  prophet.  12.  The  sum  of  all  is  con- 
tained in  the  words  of  our  blessed  Saviour ;  "  Give  alms 
of  such  things  as  you  have,  and  behold  all  things  are  clean 
unto  you."  13.  To  which  may  be  added,  that  charity,  or 
mercy,  is  the  peculiar  character  of  God's  elect,  and  a  sign 
of  predestination ;  which  advantage  we  are  taught  by  St, 
Paul :  "  Put  on  therefore,  as  the  elect  of  God,  holy  and 
beloved,  bowels  of  mercy,  kindness,  <&c.  Forbearing  one 
another,  and  forgiving  one  another,  if  any  man  have  a 
cpiarrel  against  any."*  The  result  of  all  which  we  may 
read  in  the  words  of  St.  Chrysostom :  "  To  know  the  art 
of  alms,  is  greater  than  to  be  crowned  with  the  diadem  of 
kings.  And  yet  to  convert  one  soul  is  greater  than  to  pour 
out  ten  thousand  talents  into  the  baskets  of  the  poor. 

But,  because  giving  alms  is  an  act  of  the  virtue  of  mer- 
cifulness, our  endeavour  must  be,  by  proper  arts,  to  mor- 
tify the  parents  of  unmercifulness  which  are,  1.  Envy  ; 
2.  Anger;  3.  Covetousness :  in  which  we  may  be  helped 
by  the  following  rules  or  instruments. 

*  Coioss.  iii.  12. 


220  OF  ENVY. 

Remedies  against  Umncrcifulness  and  Uncharitableness. 

1.  Against  Envy,  by  way  of  Consideration. 

Against  envy  I  shall  use  the  same  arguments  I  would 
use  to  persuade  a  man  from  the  fever  or  the  dropsy.  1. 
Because  it  is  a  disease ;  it  is  so  far  from  having  pleasure  in 
it,  or  a  temptation  to  it,  that  it  is  full  of  pain,  a  great  in- 
strument of  vexation :  it  eats  the  flesh,  and  dries  up  the 
marrow,  and  makes  hollow  eyes,  and  lean  cheeks,  and  a 
pale  face.  2.  It  is  nothing  but  a  direct  resolution  never 
to  enter  into  heaven  by  the  way  of  noble  pleasure,  taken 
in  the  good  of  others.  3.  It  is  most  contrary  to  God. 
4.  And  a  just  contrary  state  to  the  felicities  and  actions  of 
heaven,  where  every  star  increases  the  light  of  the  other, 
and  the  multitude  of  guests  at  the  Supper  of  the  Lamb 
makes  the  eternal  meal  more  festival.  5.  It  is  perfectly 
the  state  of  hell,  and  the  passion  of  devils :  for  they  do  no- 
thing but  despair  in  themselves,  and  envy  other's  quiet  or 
safety,  and  yet  cannot  rejoice  either  in  their  good  or  in 
their  evil,  although  they  endeavour  to  hinder  that,  and  pro- 
cure this,  with  all  the  devices  and  arts  of  malice  and  of  a 
great  understanding.  6.  Envy  can  serve  no  end  in  the 
world ;  it  cannot  please  any  thing,  nor  do  any  thing,  nor 
hinder  any  thing,  but  the  content  and  felicity  of  him  that 
hath.  7.  Envy  can  never  pretend  to  justice,  as  hatred  and 
uncharitableness  sometimes  may  :  for  there  may  be  causes 
of  hatred  ;  and  I  may  have  wrong  done  me  ;  and  then  hatred 
hath  some  pretence,  though  no  just  argument.  But  no 
man  is  unjust  or  injurious,  for  being  prosperous  or  wise. 
8.  And  therefore  many  men  profess  to  hate  another,  but 
no  man  owns  envy,  as  being  an  enmity  and  displeasure  for 
no  cause,  but  goodness  or  felicity  :  envious  men  being  like 
cantharides  and  caterpillars,  that  delight  most  to  devour 
ripe  and  most  excellent  fruits.  9.  It  is  of  all  crimes,  the 
basest ;  for  malice  and  anger  are  appeased  with  benefits, 
but  envy  is  exasperated,  as  envying  to  fortunate  persons 
both  their  power  and  their  will  to  do  good;  and  never 
leaves  murmuring,  till  the  envied  person  be  levelled ;  and 
then  only  the  vulture  leaves  to  eat  the  liver.  For  if  his 
neighbour  be  made  miserable,  the  envious  man  is  apt  to 
be  troubled :  like  him,  that  is  so  long  unbuilding  the  tur- 
rets, till  all  the  roof  is   low  or  flat,  or  that  the  stones  fall 


OF  ANGER.  221 

upon  the  lower  buildings,  and  do  a  mischief  that  the  man 
repents  of. 

2.  Remedies  against  Anger,  by  way  of  Exercise, 
The  next  enemy  to  mercifulness  and  the  grace  of  alms 
is  anger ;  against  which  there  are  proper  instruments  both 
in  prudence  and  religion. 

1.  Prayer  is  the  great  remedy  against  anger:  for  it  must 
suppose  it  in  some  degree  removed,  before  we  pray ;  and 
then  it  is  the  more  likely  it  will  be  finished,  when  the 
prayer  is  done.  We  must  lay  aside  the  act  of  anger,  as  a  pre- 
paratory to  prayer ;  and  the  curing  the  habit  will  be  the  ef- 
fect and  blessing  of  prayer :  so  that,  if  a  man,  to  cure  his 
anger,  resolves  to  address  himself  to  God  by  prayer,  it  is 
first  necessary,  that,  by  his  own  observation  and  diligence, 
he  lay  the  anger  aside,  before  his  prayer  can  be  fit  to  be 
presented  :  and  when  we  so  pray,  and  so  endeavour,  we  have 
all  the  blessings  of  prayer,  which  God  hath  promised  to  it, 
to  be  our  security  or  success. 

2.  If  anger  arises  in  thy  breast,  instantly  seal  up  thy  lips, 
and  let  it  not  go  forth :  for,  like  fire,  when  it  wants  vent,  it 
will  suppress  itself.  It  is  good,  in  a  fever,  to  have  a  tender 
and  a  smooth  tongue  ;  but  it  is  better,  that  it  be  so  in  anger : 
for,  if  it  be  rough  and  distempered,  there  it  is  an  ill  sign, 
but  here  it  is  an  ill  cause.  Angry  passion  is  a  fire,  and 
angry  words  are  like  breath  to  fan  them  together  ;  they  are 
like  steel  and  flint,  sending  out  fire  by  mutual  collision. 
Some  men  will  discourse  themselves  into  passion  ;  and,  if 
their  neighbour  be  enkindled  too,  together  they  flame  with 
rage  and  violence. 

3.  Humility  is  the  most  excellent  natural  cure  for  anger, 
in  the  world :  for  he,  that,  by  daily  considering  his  own  in- 
firmities and  failings,  makes  the  error  of  his  neighbour  or 
servant  to  be  his  own  case,  and  remembers,  that  he  daily 
needs  God's  pardon  and  his  brother's  charity,  will  not  be 
apt  to  rage  at  the  levities,  or  misfortunes,  or  indiscretions, 
of  another ;  greater  than  which  he  considers,  that  he  is 
very  frequently  and  more  inexcusably  guilty  of. 

4.  Consider  the  example  of  the  ever-blessed  Jesus,  who 
suflfered  all  the  contradictions  of  sinners,  and  received  all 
aflfronts  and  reproaches  of  malicious,  rash,  and  foolish  per- 
sons, and  yet,  in  all  them,  was  as  dispassionate  and  gentle, 
as  the  morning  sun  in  autumn:  and  in  this  also  he  pro- 

x2 


222  OF  ANGER. 

pounded  himself  imitable  by  us.  For,  if  innocence  itself 
did  suffer  so  great  injuries  and  disgraces,  it  is  no  great 
matter  for  us  quietly  to  receive  all  the  calamities  of  fortune, 
and  indiscretion  of  servants,  and  mistakes  of  friends,  and 
unkindnesses  of  kindred,  and  rudenesses  of  enemies  ;  since 
vv^e  have  deserved  these  and  worse,  even  hell  itself. 

5.  If  we  be  tempted  to  anger  in  the  actions  of  govern- 
ment and  discipline  to  our  inferiors,  (in  which  case,  anger 
is  permitted  so  far,  as  it  is  prudently  instrumental  to  go- 
vernment, and  only  is  a  sin,  when  it  is  excessive  and  un- 
reasonable, and  apt  to  disturb  our  own  discourse,  or  to  ex- 
press itself  in  imprudent  words  or  violent  actions,)  let  us 
propound  to  ourselves  the  example  of  God  the  Father; 
who,  at  the  same  time,  and  with  the  same  tranquillity,  de- 
creed heaven  and  hell,  the  joys  of  blessed  angels  and 
souls,  and  the  torments  of  devils  and  accursed  spirits : 
and,  at  the  day  of  judgment,  when  all  the  world  shall 
burn  under  his  feet,  God  shall  not  be  at  all  inflamed,  or 
shaken  in  his  essential  seat  and  centre  of  tranquillity  and 
joy.  And  if,  at  first,  the  cause  seems  reasonable,  yet  defer 
to  execute  thy  anger,  till  thou  mayest  better  judge.  For, 
as  Phocion  told  the  Athenians,  who,  upon  the  first  news  of 
the  death  of  Alexander,  were  ready  to  revolt,  "  Stay  a 
while  ;  for  if  the  king  be  not  dead,  your  haste  will  ruin  you; 
but,  if  he  be  dead,  your  stay  cannot  prejudice  your  affairs, 
for  he  will  be  dead  to-morrow,  as  well  as  to-day  ;"  so,  if  thy 
servant  or  inferior  deserves  punishment,  staying  till  to- 
morrow will  not  make  him  innocent ;  but  it  may  possibly 
preserve  thee  so,  by  preventing  thy  striking  a  guiltless  per- 
son, or  being  furious  for  a  trifle. 

6.  Remove  from  thyself  all  provocations  and  incentives 
to  anger;  especially,  1.  Games  of  chance  and  great 
wagers.  Patroclus  killed  his  friend,  the  son  of  Amphi- 
damus,  in  his  rage  and  sudden  fury,  rising  upon  a  cross 
game  at  tables.  Such  also  are  petty  curiosities,  and 
worldly  business,  and  carefulness  about  it :  but  manage 
thyself  with  indifferency,  or  contempt  of  those  external 
things,  and  do  not  spend  a  passion  upon  them;  for  it  is 
more  than  they  are  worth.  But  they,  that  desire  but  few 
things,  can  be  crossed  but  in  a  few.  2.  In  not  heaping 
up,  with  an  ambitious  or  curious  prodigality,  any  very 
curious  or  choice  utensils,  seals,  jewels,  glasses,  precious 
stones  ;  because  those  very  many  accidents,  which  happen 


OF  ANGER.  22:3 

in  the  spoiling  or  loss  of  these  rarities,  are,  in  event,  an 
irresistible  cause  of  violent  anger.  3.  Do  not  entertain  nor 
suffer  talc-bearers  ;  for  they  abuse  our  ears  first,  and  then 
our  credulity,  and  then  steal  our  patience,  and  it  may  be 
for  a  lie ;  and,  if  it  be  true,  the  matter  is  not  considerable  : 
or  if  it  be,  yet  it  is  pardonable.  And  we  may  always  escape, 
with  patience,  at  one  of  these  outlets;  either,  1.  By  not  hear- 
ing slanders  ;  or,  2.  By  not  believing  them;  or,  3.  By  not 
regarding  the  thing ;  or,  4.  By  forgiving  the  person.  4.  To 
this  purpose  also  it  may  serve  well,  if  we  choose  (as  much 
as  we  can)  to  live  with  peaceable  persons,  for  that  prevents 
the  occasions  of  confusion  ;  and  if  we  live  with  prudent  per- 
sons, they  will  not  easily  occasion  our  disturbance.  But, 
because  these  things  are  not  in  many  men's  power,  there- 
fore I  propound  this  rather  as  a  felicity  than  a  remedy  or  a 
duty,  and  an  art  of  prevention  than  of  cure. 

7.  Be  not  inquisitive  into  the  affairs  of  other  men,  nor 
the  faults  of  thy  servants,  nor  the  mistakes  of  thy  friends : 
but  what  is  offered  to  you,  use  according  to  the  former 
rules ;  but  do  not  thou  go  out  to  gather  sticks  to  kindle  a 
fire  to  burn  thine  own  house.  And  add  this ;  "  If  my 
friend  said,  or  did  well  in  that,  for  which  I  am  angry,  I  am 
in  the  fault,  not  he  ;  but  if  he  did  amiss,  he  is  in  the  misery, 
not  I :  for  either  he  was  deceived,  or  he  was  malicious : 
and  either  of  them  both  is  all  one  with  a  miserable  person : 
and  that  is  an  object  of  pity,  not  of  anger. 

9.  Use  all  reasonable  discourses  to  excuse  the  faults  of 
others  ;  considering  that  there  are  many  circumstances  of 
time,  of  person,  of  accident,  of  inadvertency,  of  infrequency, 
of  aptness  to  amend,  of  sorrow  for  doing  it;  and  it  is  well 
that  we  take  any  good  in  exchange ;  for  the  evil  is  done  or 
suffered. 

9.  Upon  the  rising  of  anger,  instantly  enter  into  a  deep 
consideration  of  the  joys  of  heaven,  or  the  pains  of  hell : 
for  "  fear  and  joy  are  naturally  apt  to  appease  this  violence." 

10.  In  contentions  be  always  passive, never  active ;  upon 
the  defensive,  not  the  assaulting  party ;  and  then  also  give 
a  gentle  answer,  receiving  the  furies  and  indiscretions  of 
the  other,  like  a  stone  into  a  bed  of  moss  and  soft  compliance  ; 
and  you  shall  find  it  sit  down  quietly :  whereas  anger  and 
violence  make  the  contention  loud  and  long,  and  injurious 
to  both  the  parties. 

11.  In  the  actioriS  of  religion,  be  careful  to  temper  all 


224  OF  ANGER. 

thy  instances  with  meekness,  and  the  proper  instruments 
of  it :  and,  if  thou  beest  apt  to  be  angry,  neither  fast  vio- 
lently, nor  entertain  the  too-forward  heats  of  zeal,  but 
secure  thy  duty  with  constant  and  regular  actions,  and  a 
good  temper  of  body,  with  convenient  refreshments  and 
recreations. 

12.  If  anger  rises  suddenly  and  violently,  first  restrain 
it  with  consideration ;  and  then  let  it  end  in  a  hearty 
prayer  for  him  that  did  the  real  or  seeming  injury.  The 
former  of  the  two  stops  its  growth,  and  the  latter  quite 
kills  it,  and  makes  amends  for  its  monstrous  and  involun- 
tary birth. 

Remedies  against  Anger  by  way  of  Consideration. 
1.  Consider, that  anger  is  a  professed  enemy  to  counsel; 
it  is  a  direct  storm,  in  which  no  man  can  be  heard  to  speak 
or  call  from  without ;  for  if  you  counsel  gently,  you  are 
despised ;  if  you  urge  it,  and  be  vehement,  you  provoke  it 
more.  Be  careful  therefore  to  lay  up  beforehand  a  great 
stock  of  reason  and  prudent  consideration,  that,  like  a  be- 
sieged town,  you  may  be  provided  for,  and  be  defensible 
from  within,  since  you  are  not  likely  to  be  relieved  from 
without.  Anger  is  not  to  be  suppressed  but  by  something, 
that  is  as  inward  as  itself,  and  more  habitual.  To  which 
purpose  add,  that,  2.  Of  all  passions,  it  endeavours  most 
to  make  reason  useless.  3.  That  it  is  a  universal  poison, 
of  an  infinite  object ;  for  no  man  was  ever  so  amorous,  as 
to  love  a  toad ;  none  so  envious,  as  to  repine  at  the  con- 
dition of  the  miserable  ;  no  man  so  timorous,  as  to  fear  a 
dead  bee  ;  but  anger  is  troubled  at  every  thing,  and  every 
niun,  and  every  accident ;  and  therefore,  unless  it  be  sup- 
pressed, it  will  make  a  man's  condition  restless.  4.  If  it 
proceeds  from  a  great  cause,  it  turns  to  fury ;  if  from  a 
small  cause,  it  is  peevishness :  and  so  is,  always,  either 
terrible  or  ridiculous.  5.  It  makes  a  man's  body  mon- 
strous, deformed,  and  contemptible  ;  the  voice  horrid  ;  the 
eyes  cruel;  the  face  pale  or  fiery:  the  gait  fierce;  the 
speech  clamorous  and  loud.  6.  It  is  neither  manly  nor 
ingenuous.  7.  It  proceeds  from  softness  of  spirit  and 
pusillanimity  :  which  makes,  that  women  are  more  angry 
than  men,  sick  persons  more  than  healthful,  old  men  more 
than  young,  unprosperous  and  calamitous  people  than  the 
blessed    and  fortunate.     8.  It  is  a  passion  fitter  for  flies 


OF  ANGER.  225 

and  insects,  than  for  persons,  professing  nobleness  and 
bounty.  9.  It  is  troublesome  not  only  to  those  that  suffer 
it,  but  to  them  that  behold  it ;  there  being  no  greater  in- 
civility of  entertainment,  than  for  the  cook's  fault  or  the 
negligence  of  the  servants,  to  be  cruel,  or  outrageous,  or 
unpleasant  in  the  presence  of  the  guests.  10.  It  makes  mar- 
riage to  be  a  necessary  and  unavoidable  trouble  ;  friend- 
ships, and  societies,  and  familiarities,  to  be  intolerable. 
11.  It  multiplies  the  evils  of  drunkenness,  and  makes  the 
levities  of  wine  to  run  mto  madness.  12.  It  makes  inno- 
cent jesting  to  be  the  beginning  of  tragedies.  13.  It  turns 
friendship  into  hatred  ;  it  makes  a  man  lose  himself,  and 
his  reason,  and  his  argument,  in  disputation.  It  turns  the 
desires  of  knowledge  into  an  itch  of  wrangling.  It  adds 
insolency  to  power.  It  turns  justice  into  cruelty,  and  judg- 
ment into  oppression.  It  changes  discipline  into  tedious- 
ness  and  hatred  of  liberal  institution.  It  makes  a  prospe- 
rous man  to  be  envied,  and  the  unfortunate  to  be  unpitied. 
It  is  a  confluence  of  all  the  irregular  passions :  there  is  in 
it  envy  and  sorrow,  fear  and  scorn,  pride  and  prejudice,  rash- 
ness and  inconsideration,  rejoicing  in  evil  and  a  desire  to 
inflict  it,  self-love,  impatience,  and  curiosity.  And  lastly, 
though  it  be  very  troublesome  to  others,  yet  it  is  most  trou- 
blesome to  him,  that  hath  it. 

In  the  use  of  these  arguments  and  the  former  exercises, 
be  diligent  to  observe,  lest,  in  your  desires  to  suppress  an- 
ger, you  be  passionate  and  angry  at  yourself  for  being  an- 
gry ;  like  physicians,  who  give  a  bitter  potion,  when  they 
intend  to  eject  the  bitterness  of  choler ;  for  this  will  pro- 
voke the  person,  and  increase  the  passion.  But  placidly 
and  quietly  set  upon  the  mortification  of  it ;  and  attempt 
it  first  for  a  day,  resolving  that  day  not  at  all  to  be  angry, 
and  to  be  watchful  and  observant;  for  a  day  is  no  great 
trouble :  but  then,  after  one  day's  watchfulness,  it  will  be 
as  easy  to  watch  two  days,  as  at  first  it  was  to  watch  one 
day  ;  and  so  you  may  increase,  till  it  becomes  easy  and  ha- 
bitual. 

Only  observe,  that  such  an  anger  alone  is  criminal,  which 
is  against  charity  to  myself  or  my  neighbour;  but  anger 
against  sin  is  a  holy  zeal,  and  an  effect  of  love  to  God  and 
my  brother,  for  whose  interest  I  am  passionate,  like  a  con- 
cerned person  :  and,  if  I  take  care,  that  my  anger  makes 
no  reflection  of  scorn  or  cruelty  upon  the  offender,  or  of 


226  OF  COVETOUSNESS. 

pride  and  violence,  or  transportation  to  myself,  anger  be- 
comes charity  and  duty.  And  when  one  commended  Cha- 
rilaus,  the  king  of  Sparta,  for  a  gentle,  a  good,  and  a  meek 
prince,  his  colleague  said  well,  "  How  can  he  be  good,  who 
is  not  an  enemy  even  to  vicious  persons  ?" 

3.  Remedies  against  Covetousness,  the  third  Enemy 
of  Mercy, 
Covetousness  is  also  an  enemy  to  alms,  though  not  to  all 
the  effects  of  mercifulness :  but  this  is  to  be  cured  by  the 
proper  motives  to  charity  beforementioned,  and  by  the  pro- 
per rules  of  justice  :  which  being  secured,  the  arts  of  get- 
ting money  are  not  easily  made  criminal.  To  which  also 
we  may  add, 

1.  Covetousness  makes  a  man  miserable  ;  because  riches 
are  not  means  to  make  a  man  happy  :  and  unless  felicity 
were  to  be  bought  with  money,  he  is  a  vain  person,  who 
admires  heaps  of  gold  and  rich  possessions.  For  what 
Hippomachus  said  to  some  persons,  who  commended  a  tall 
man  as  fit  to  be  a  champion  in  the  Olympic  games,  "  It  is 
true  (said  he)  if  the  crown  hang  so  high,  that  the  longest 
arm  could  reach  it ;"  the  same  we  may  say  concerning 
riches  ;  they  were  excellent  things,  if  the  richest  man  were 
certainly  the  wisest  and  the  best ;  but  as  they  are,  they  are 
nothing  to  be  wondered  at,  because  they  contribute  no- 
thing towards  felicity  :  which  appears,  because  some  men 
choose  to  be  miserable,  that  they  may  be  rich,  rather  than 
be  happy  with  the  expense  of  money,  and  doing  noble 
things. 

2.  Riches  are  useless  and  unprofitable ;  for  beyond  our 
needs  and  conveniences,  nature  knows  no  use  of  riches : 
and  they  say,  that  the  princes  of  Italy,  Avhen  they  sup 
alone,  eat  out  of  a  single  dish,  and  drink  in  a  plain  glass, 
and  the  wife  eats  without  purple  ;  for  nothing  is  more  fru- 
gal than  the  back  and  belly,  if  they  be  used  as  they  should; 
but  when  they  would  entertain  the  eyes  of  strangers,  when 
they  are  vain,  and  would  make  a  noise,  then  riches  come 
forth  to  set  forth  the  spectacle,  and  furnish  out  the  comedy 
of  wealth  of  vanity.  No  man  can,  with  all  the  wealth  in 
the  world,  buy  so  much  skill,  as  to  be  a  good  lutenist ;  he 
must  go  the  same  way  that  poor  people  do,  he  must  learn 
and  take  pains  :  much  less  can  he  buy  constancy,  or  chas- 
tity,   or  courage  ;  nay,  not  so  much  as  the  contempt  of 


OF  covi:tousness.  227 

riches  :  and,  by  possessing  more  than  we  need,  we  cannot 
obtain  so  niucli  power  over  our  souls,  as  not  to  require 
more.  And  certainly  riches  must  deliver  me  from  no  evil, 
if  the  possession  of  them  cannot  take  away  the  longing  for 
them.  If  any  man  be  thirsty,  drink  cools  him  ;  if  he  be 
hungry,  eating  meat  satisfies  him  :  and  when  a  man  is 
cold,  and  calls  for  a  warm  cloak,  he  is  pleased  if  you  give 
it  him  ;  but  you  trouble  him,  if  you  load  him  with  six  or 
eight  cloaks.  Nature  rests,  and  sits  still,  when  she  hath 
her  portion  ;  but  that  which  exceeds  it,  is  a  trouble  and  a 
burden  :  and,  therefore,  in  true  philosophy,  no  man  is  rich, 
but  he  that  is  poor,  according  to  the  common  account :  for 
when  God  hath  satisfied  those  needs  which  he  made,  that 
is,  all  that  is  natural,  whatsoever  is  beyond  it  is  thirst 
and  a  disease  ;  and,  unless  it  be  sent  back  again  in  charity 
or  religion,  can  serve  no  end  but  vice  or  vanity :  it  can  in- 
crease the  appetite  to  represent  the  man  poorer,  and  full  of 
a  new  and  artificial,  unnatural  need;  but  it  never  satisfies 
the  needs  it  makes,  or  makes  the  man  richer.  No  wealth 
can  satisfy  the  covetous  desire  of  wealth. 

3.  Riches  are  troublesome  ;  but  the  satisfaction  of  those 
appetites,  which  God  and  nature  hath  made,  are  cheap 
and  easy  ;  for  who  ever  paid  use-money  for  bread,  and 
onions  and  water  to  keep  him  alive  ?  but  when  we  covet 
after  houses  of  the  frame  and  design  of  Italy,  or  long  for 
jewels,  or  for  our  next  neighbour's  field,  or  horses  from 
Barbary,  or  the  richest  perfumes  of  Arabia,  or  Galatian 
mules,  or  fat  eunuchs  for  our  slaves  from  Tunis,  or  rich 
coaches  from  Naples,  then  we  can  never  be  satisfied,  till 
we  have  the  best  thing  that  is  fancied,  and  all  that  can  be 
had,  and  all  that  can  be  desired,  and  that  we  can  lust  no 
more :  but,  before  we  come  to  the  one  half  of  our  first 
wild  desires,  we  are  the  bondmen  of  usurers  and  of  our 
worse  tyrant  appetites,  and  the  tortures  of  envy  and  impa- 
tience. But  I  consider,  that  those  who  drink  on  still,  when 
their  thirst  is  quenched,  or  eat  after  they  have  well  dined, 
axe  forced  to  vomit  not  only  their  superfluity,  but  even  that 
which  at  first  was  necessary :  so  those  that  covet  more  than 
they  can  temperately  use,  are  oftentimes  forced  to  part 
even  with  that  patrimony  which  would  have  supported  their 
persons  in  freedom  and  honour,  and  have  satisfied  all  their 
reasonable  desire. 

4.  Contentedness  is  therefore  health,  because  covetous- 


228  OF  COVETOUSNESS. 

ness  is  a  direct  sickness :  and  it  was  well  said  of  Aristip- 
pus,  (as  Plutarch  reports  him,)  if  any  man,  after  much  eat- 
ing and  drinking,  be  still  unsatisfied,  he  hath  no  need  of 
more  meat  or  more  drink,  but  of  a  physician  ;  he  more  needs 
to  be  purged  than  to  be  filled  ;  and  therefore,  since  covet- 
ousness  cannot  be  satisfied,  it  must  be  cured  by  emptiness 
and  evacuation.  The  man  is  without  remedy,  unless  he 
be  reduced  to  the  scantling  of  nature  and  the  measures  of 
his  personal  necessity.  Give  to  a  poor  man  a  house,  and 
a  few  cows,  pay  his  little  debt,  and  set  him  on  work,  and 
he  is  provided  for,  and  quiet :  but  when  a  man  enlarges 
beyond  a  fair  possession,  and  desires  another  lordship,  you 
spite  him  if  you  let  him  have  it  ;  for,  by  that,  he  is  one  de- 
gree the  further  off  from  rest  in  his  desires  and  satisfac- 
tion ;  and  now  he  sees  himself  in  a  bigger  capacity  to  a 
larger  fortune ;  and  he  shall  never  find  his  period,  till  you 
begin  to  take  away  something  of  what  he  hath  ;  for  then  he 
will  begin  to  be  glad  to  keep  that  which  is  left :  but  reduce 
him  to  natures  measures,  and  there  he  shall  be  sure  to  find 
rest :  for  there  no  man  can  desire  beyond  his  belly-full ; 
and,  when  he  wants  that,  any  one  friend  or  charitable  man 
can  cure  his  poverty  ;  but  all  the  world  cannot  satisfy  his 
covetousness. 

5.  Covetousness  is  the  most  fantastical  and  contradic- 
tory disease  in  the  whole  world  ;  it  must  therefore  be  incu- 
rable, because  it  strives  against  its  own  cure.  No  man, 
therefore,  abstains  from  meat  because  he  is  hungry,  nor 
from  wine  because  he  loves  it  and  needs  it :  but  the  covet- 
ous man  does  so,  for  he  desires  it  passionately,  because  he 
says  he  needs  it,  and  when  he  hath  it  he  will  need  it  still, 
because  he  dares  not  use  it.  He  gets  clothes,  because  he 
cannot  be  without  them ;  but  when  he  hath  them,  then  he 
can  :  as  if  he  needed  corn  for  his  granary,  and  clothes  for 
his  wardrobe,  more  than  for  his  back  and  belly.  For  covet- 
ousness pretends  to  heap  much  together  for  fear  of  want ; 
and  yet,  after  all  his  pains  and  purchase,  he  suffers  that 
really,  which  at  first  he  feared  vainly ;  and,  by  not  using 
what  he  gets,  he  makes  that  suffering  to  be  actual,  present, 
and  necessary,  which,  in  his  lowest  condition,  was  but 
future,  contingent  and  possible.  It  stirs  up  the  desire, 
and  takes  away  the  pleasure  of  being  satisfied.  It  increases 
the  appetite,  and  will  not  content  it ;  it  swells  the  principal 
to  no  purpose,  and  lessens  the  use  to  all  purposes ;  dis- 


OF  COVETOUSNESS.  229 

tuvbing-  the  order  of  /lutiire,  and  the  desii^ns  of  God  ;  mak- 
ing money  not  to  be  the  instrument  of  exchange  or  charity, 
nor  corn  to  feed  himself  or  the  poor,  nor  wool  to  clotlie 
himself  or  his  brother,  nor  wine  to  refresh  the  sadness  of 
the  afflicted,  nor  his  oil  to  make  his  own  countenance 
cheerful ;  but  all  these  to  look  upon,  and  to  tell  over,  and 
to  take  accounts  by,  and  make  himself  considerable,  and 
wondered  at  by  fools:  that  while  he  lives,  he  maybe  called 
rich,  and  when  he  dies,  may  be  accounted  miserable ;  and, 
like  the  dish-makers  of  China,  may  leave  a  greater  heap  of 
dirt  for  his  nephews,  while  he  himself  hath  a  new  lot  fallen 
to  him  in  the  portion  of  Dives.  But  thus  the  ass  carried 
wood  and  sweet  herbs  to  the  baths,  but  was  never  washed 
or  perfumed  himself:  he  heaped  up  sweets  for  others,  while 
himself  was  filthy  with  smoke  and  ashes.  And  yet  it  is 
considerable  ;  if  the  man  can  be  content  to  feed  hardly, 
and  labour  extremely,  and  watch  carefully,  and  suffer  af- 
fronts and  disgrace,  that  he  may  get  more  money,  than  he 
uses  in  his  temperance  and  just  needs,  w^ith  how  much  ease 
might  this  man  be  happy?  and  with  how  great  uneasiness 
and  trouble  does  he  make  himself  miserable  1  For  he  takes 
pains  to  get  content,  and  when  he  might  have  it  he  lets  it 
go.  He  might  better  be  content  with  a  virtuous  and  quiet 
poverty,  than  with  an  artificial,  troublesome,  and  vicious. 
The  same  diet  and  a  less  labour  would,  at  first,  make  him 
happy,  and  for  ever  after  rewardable. 

6.  The  sum  of  all  is  that,  which  the  apostle  says,  "  Co- 
vetousness  is  idolatry  ;"that  is,  it  is  an  admiring  money  for 
itself,  not  for  its  use  ;  it  relies  upon  money,  and  loves  it 
more  than  it  loves  God  and  religion  :  and  it  is  "  the  root  of 
all  evil;"  it  teaches  men  to  be  cruel  and  crafty,  industri- 
ous in  evil,  full  of  care  and  malice  ;  it  devours  young  heirs, 
and  grinds  the  face  of  the  poor,  and  undoes  those  who  spe- 
cially belong  to  God's  protection,  helpless,  craftless,  and 
innocent  people  ;  it  inquires  into  our  parents'  age,  and 
longs  for  the  death  of  our  friends ;  it  makes  friendship  an 
art  of  rapine,  and  changes  a  partner  into  a  vulture,  and 
a  companion  into  a  thief;  and  after  all  this,  it  is  for  no 
good  to  itself;  for  it  dares  not  spend  those  heaps  of  trea- 
sure which  it  snatched :  and  men  hate  serpents  and  basi- 
lisks worse  than  lions  and  bears  ;  for  these  kill,  because 
they  need  the  prey,  but  they  sting  to  death  and  eat  not. 
And  if  thev  pretend  all  this  care,  and  heap  for  their  heirs, 
Y 


230  0^  COVETOUSNESS. 

(like  tho  mice  of  Africa,  hidiiif^  tlic  ooldcn  ore  in  their 
bowels,  and  refusing  to  give  back  the  indigested  gold,  till 
their  guts  be  out,)  tliey  may  remember,  that  what  was  un- 
necessary for  themselves,  is  as  unnecessary  for  their  sons: 
and  why  cannot  they  be  without  it,  as  well  as  their  fathers, 
who  did  not  use  it  ?  And  it  often  happens,  tliat  to  the  sons 
it  becomes  an  instrument  to  serve  some  lust  or  other ;  tliat, 
as  the  gold  was  useless  to  their  lathers,  so  may  the  sons 
be  to  the  public,  fools  or  prodigals,  loads  to  their  country, 
and  the  curse  and  punishment  of  their  fiither's  avarice  : 
and  yet  all  that  wealth  is  short  of  one  blessing;  but  it  is 
a  load  coming  witli  a  curse,  and  descending  from  the  f;i- 
mily  of  a  long  derived  sin.  However  tiie  father  trans- 
mits it  to  the  son,  and  it  may  be  the  son  to  one  or  more  : 
till  a  tyrant  or  an  oppressor,  or  a  war,  or  a  change  of 
government,  or  the  usurer,  or  folly,  or  an  expensive  vice, 
makes  holes  in  the  bottom  of  the  bag,  and  the  w^ealth  runs 
out  like  water,  and  Hies  away,  like  a  bird  from  the  hand  of 
a  child. 

7.  Add  to  these  the  consideration  of  the  advantages  of 
poverty  ;  that  it  is  a  state  freer  from  temptation,  secure  in 
dangers,  but  of  one  trouble,  safe  under  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence, cared  for  in  heaven  by  a  daily  ministration,  and  for 
whose  support  God  makes  every  day  a  new  decree;  a 
state,  of  which  Christ  was  pleased  to  make  open  profes- 
sion, and  many  wise  men  daily  make  vows  :  that  a  rich 
man  is  but  like  a  pool,  to  whom  the  poor  run,  and  first 
trouble  it,  and  then  draw  it  dry  :  that  he  enjoys  no  more 
of  it,  than  according  to  the  few  and  limited  needs  of  a 
man;  he  cannot  eat  like  a  wolf  or  an  elephant:  that 
variety  of  dainty  fare  ministers  but  to  sin  and  sicknesses; 
that  the  poor  man  feasts  oftener  than  the  rich,  because 
every  little  enlargement  is  a  feast  to  the  poor,  but  he  that 
feasts  every  day  feasts  no  day,  there  being  nothing  left,  to 
which  he  may,  beyond  his  ordinary,  extend  his  appetite  ; 
that  the  rich  man  sleeps  not  so  soundly  as  the  poor  la- 
bourer ;  that  his  fears  are  more,  and  his  needs  arc  greater 
(for  who  is  poorer,  he  that  needs  5/.  or  he  that  needs 
5000/.  ?)  the  poor  man  hath  enough  to  fill  his  belly,  and 
the  rich  hath  not  enough  to  fill  his  eye  ;  that  the  poor  man's 
wants  are  easy  to  be  relieved  by  a  common  charity,  but 
the  needs  of  rich  men  cannot  be  supplied  but  by  princes, 
and  they  are  left  to  the  temptation  of  great  vices  to  make 


OF  REPENTANCE.  231 

re}>aration  of  their  needs ;  and  the  ambitious  labours  of 
men  to  tret  j^reat  estates  is  but  like  the  selling  of  a  I'oun- 
tain  to  buy  a  fever,  a  parting  with  content  to  buy  necessity, 
a  purchase  of  an  unhandsome  condition  at  the  price  of 
infelicity ;  that  princes,  and  they  that  enjoy  most  of  the 
world,  have  most  of  it  but  in  title,  and  supreme  rights,  and 
reserve  privileges,  pepper-corns,  homages,  trifling  ser- 
vices and  acknowledgments,  the  real  use  descending  to 
others  to  more  substantial  purposes.  These  considerations 
may  be  useful  to  the  curing  of  covetousness,  that  the 
grace  of  mercifulness  enlarging  the  heart  of  a  man,  his 
hand  may  not  be  contracted,  but  reached  out  to  the  poor  in 
alms. 

SECTION  IX. 

Of  Repentance. 

RE^E^-TA^•CE,  of  all  things  in  the  world,  makes  the 
greatest  change  :  it  changes  things  in  heaven  and  earth  ; 
for  it  changes  the  whole  man  from  sin  to  grace,  from  vi- 
cious habits  to  holy  customs,  from  unchaste  bodies  to  an- 
gelical souls,  from  swine  to  philosophers,  from  drunkenness 
to  sober  counsels:  and  God  himself,  "with  whom  is  no 
variableness  or  shadov/  of  change,"  is  pleased,  by  descend- 
ing to  our  weak  understandings,  to  say,  that  he  changes 
also  upon  man's  repentance,  that  he  alters  his  decrees,  re- 
vokes his  sentence,  cancels  the  bills  of  accusation,  throws 
the  records  of  shame  and  sorrow  from  the  court  of  heaven, 
and  lifts  up  the  sinner  from  the  grave  to  life,  from  his 
prison  to  a  throne,  from  hell  and  the  guilt  of  eternal  tor- 
ture, to  heaven  and  to  a  title  to  never-ceasing  felicities. 
If  we  be  bound  on  earth,  we  shall  be  bound  in  heaven  :  if 
we  be  absolved  here,  we  shall  be  loosed  there  :  if  we  re- 
pent, God  will  repent,  and  not  send  the  evil  upon  us,  which 
we  had  deserved. 

But  repentance  is  a  conjugation  and  society  of  many 
duties ;  and  it  contains  in  it  all  the  parts  of  a  holy  life, 
from  the  time  of  our  return  to  the  day  of  our  death  inclu- 
sively ;  and  it  hath  in  it  some  things  specially  relating  to 
the  sins  of  our  former  days,  which  are  now  to  be  abolished 
by  special  arts,  and  have  obliged  us  to  special  labours, 
and  brought  in  many  new  necessities,  and  put  us  into  a 
very  great  deal  of  danger.  And,  because  it  is  a  duty  con- 
sisting of  so  many  parts  and  so  much  employment,  it  also 


232  OF  REPEiNTANCE. 

requires  much  time,  and  leaves  a  man  in  the  same  degree 
of  hope  of  pardon,  as  in  his  restitution  to  the  state  of 
righteousness  and  holy  living  for  which  we  covenanted  in 
baptism.  For  we  must  know,  that  there  is  but  one  re 
pentance  in  a  man's  whole  life,  if  repentance  be  taken  in 
the  proper  and  strict  evangelical  covenant  sense,  and  not 
after  the  ordinary  understanding  of  the  world  ;  that  is,  we 
are  but  once  to  change  our  whole  state  of  life,  from  the 
power  of  the  devil  and  his  entire  possession,  from  the  state 
of  sin  and  death,  from  the  body  of  corruption,  to  the  life 
of  grace,  to  the  possession  of  Jesus,  to  the  kingdom  of 
the  Gospel ;  and  this  is  done  in  the  baptism  of  water,  or 
in  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  when  the  first  rite  comes  to 
be  verified  by  God's  grace  coming  upon  us,  and  by  our 
obedience  to  the  heavenly  calling,  we  Avorking  together 
with  God.  After  this  change,  if  ever  we  fall  into  the 
contrary  state,  and  be  wholly  estranged  from  God  and 
religion,  and  profess  ourselves  servants  of  unrighteous- 
ness, God  hath  made  no  more  covenant  of  restitution  to 
us  ;  there  is  no  place  left  for  any  more  repentance,  or  en- 
tire change  of  condition,  or  new  birth :  a  man  can  be  re- 
generated but  once  ;  and  such  are  voluntary,  malicious 
apostates,  witches,  obstinate  impenitent  persons,  and  the 
like.  But  if  we  be  overtaken  by  infirmity,  or  enter  into 
the  marches  or  borders  of  this  estate,  and  commit  a 
grievous  sin,  or  ten,  or  twenty,  so  we  be  not  in  the  entire 
possession  of  the  devil,  we  are,  for  the  present,  in  a  dam- 
nable condition,  if  we  die ;  but  if  we  live,  we  are  in  a 
recoverable  condition ;  for  so  we  may  repent  often.  We 
repent  or  rise  from  death  but  once,  but  from  sickness 
many  times ;  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  shall  be  par- 
doned, if  so  we  repent.  But  our  hopes  of  pardon  are 
just  as  is  the  repentance  ;  which,  if  it  be  timely,  hearty, 
industrious,  and  effective,  God  accepts ;  not  by  weighing 
grains  or  scruples,  but  by  estimating  the  great  proportions 
of  our  life.  A  hearty  endeavour,  and  an  effectual  general 
change,  shall  get  the  pardon ;  the  unavoidable  infirmities, 
and  past  evils,  and  present  imperfections,  and  short  inter- 
ruptions, against  which  we  watch,  and  pray,  and  strive, 
being  put  upon  the  accounts  of  the  cross,  and  paid  for  by 
the  holy  Jesus.  This  is  the  state  and  condition  of  re- 
pentance:  its  parts  and  actions  must  be  valued,  according 
to  the  followino-  rules. 


OF  REPExNTANCE.  233 

Acts  and  Parts  of  Repentance. 

I.  lie  that  repents  truly,  is  greatly  sorrowful  for  his 
past  sins:  not  with  a  superficial  sigh  or  tear,  but  a  pun- 
gent alllictive  sorrow ;  such  a  sorrow  as  hates  the  sin  so 
much,  that  the  man  would  choose  to  die  rather  than  act  it 
any  more.  This  sorrow  is  called  in  Scripture  "  a  weeping 
sorely  ;  a  weeping  with  bitterness  of  heart ;  a  weeping  day 
and  night ;  a  sorrow  of  heart ;  a  breaking  of  the  spirit ; 
mourning  like  a  dove,  and  chattering  like  a  swallow  :"* 
and  Ave  may  read  the  degree  and  manner  of  it  by  the 
lamentations  and  sad  accents  of  the  prophet  Jeremy,  when 
he  wept  for  the  sins  of  the  nation  :  by  the  heart-breaking  of 
David,  when  he  mourned  for  his  murder  and  adultery  :  and 
the  bitter  weeping  of  St.  Peter,  after  the  shameful  denying 
of  his  master.  The  expression  of  his  sorrow  differs  according 
to  the  temper  of  the  body,  the  sex,  the  age,  and  circum- 
stance of  action,  and  the  motive  of  sorrow,  and  by  many  ac- 
cidental tendernesses,  or  masculine  hardnesses ;  and  the 
repentance  is  not  to  be  estimated  by  the  tears,  but  by  the 
grief;  and  the  grief  is  to  be  valued,  not  by  the  sensitive 
trouble,  but  by  the  cordial  hatred  of  the  sin,  and  ready  ac- 
tual dereliction  of  it,  and  a  resolution,  and  real  resisting 
its  consequent  temptations.  Some  people  can  shed  tears 
for  nothing,  some  for  any  thmg  ;  but  the  proper  and  true 
effects  of  a  godly  sorrow  are,  fear  of  the  Divine  judgments, 
apprehension  of  God's  displeasure,  watchings  and  strivings 
against  sin,  patiently  enduring  the  cross  of  sorrow  (which 
God  sends  as  their  punishment,)  in  accusation  of  ourselves, 
in  perpetually  begging  pardon,  in  mean  and  base  opinions 
of  ourselves,  and  in  all  the  natural  productions  from  these, 
according  to  our  temper  and  constitution.  For  if  we  be 
apt  to  w^eep  in  other  accidents,  it  is  ill,  if  we  weep  not  also 
in  the  sorrows  of  repentance  :  not  that  weeping  is  of  itself 
a  duty,  but  that  the  sorrow,  if  it  be  as  great,  will  be  still 
expressed  in  as  great  a  manner. 

2.  Our  sorrow  for  sins  must  retain  the  proportion  of  our 
sins  ;  though  not  the  equality  :  we  have  no  particular  mea- 
sures of  sins ;  we  know  not,  Avhich  is  greater  of  sacrilege 
or  superstition,  idolatry  or  covetousness,  rebellion  or  witch- 
craft :  and  therefore  God  ties  us  not  to  nice  measures  of 

*  Jer.  xiii.  17.     Joel  ii.  13.     Ezek.  xxvii.  31.    James  iv.  9. 

y  2 


234  Of^  REPENTANCE. 

sorrow,  but  only,  that  we  keep  the  general  rules  of  propor- 
tion ;  that  is,  that  a  great  sin  have  a  great  grief,  a  smaller 
crime  being  to  be  washed  off  with  a  lesser  shower. 

3.  Our  sorrow  for  sins  is  then  best  accounted  of  for  its 
degree  when  it,  together  with  all  the  penal  and  afflictive 
duties  of  repentance,  shall  have  equalled  or  exceeded  the 

.pleasure  we  had  in  commission  of  the  sin. 

4.  True  repentance  is  a  punishing  duty,  and  acts  its  sor- 
row ;  and  judges  and  condemns  the  sin  by  voluntary  sub- 
mitting to  such  sadnesses  as  God  sends  on  us,  or  (to  pre- 
vent the  judgment  of  God)  by  judging  ourselves,  and  pun- 
ishing our  bodies  and  our  spirits  by  such  instruments  of 
piety,  as  are  troublesome  to  the  body  :  such  as  are  fasting, 
watching,  long  prayers,  troublesome  postures  in  our  prayers, 
expensive  alms,  and  all  outward  acts  of  humiliation.  For 
he  that  must  judge  himself,  must  condemn  himself,  if  he 
be  guilty ;  and,  if  he  be  condemned,  he  must  be  punished ; 
and,  if  he  be  so  judged,  it  will  help  to  prevent  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Lord,  St.  Paul  instructing  us  in  this  particular.* 
But  I  before  intimated,  that  the  punishing  actions  of  repent- 
ance are  only  actions  of  sorrow,  and  therefore  are  to  make 
up  the  proportions  of  it.  For  our  grief  may  be  so  full  of 
trouble,  as  to  outweigh  all  the  burdens  of  fasts  and  bodily 
afflictions,  and  then  the  other  are  the  less  necessary ;  and, 
when  they  are  used,  the  benefit  of  them  is  to  obtain  of  God 
a  remission  or  a  lessening  of  such  temporal  judgments, 
which  God  hath  decreed  against  the  sins,  as  it  was  in  the 
case  of  Ahab  :  but  the  sinner  is  not,  by  any  thing  of  this 
reconciled  to  the  eternal  favour  of  God ;  for  as  yet,  this  is 
but  the  introduction  to  repentance. 

5.  Every  true  penitent  is  obliged  to  confess  his  sins,  and 
to  humble  himself  before  God  for  ever.  Confession  of 
sins  hath  a  special  promise.  "  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he 
is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins  :"t  meaning,  that 
God  hath  bound  himself  to  forgive  us,  if  we  duly  confess 
our  sins,  and  do  all  that  for  which  confession  was  ap- 
pointed ;  that  is,  be  ashamed  of  them,  and  own  them  no 
more.  For  confession  of  our  sins  to  God  can  signify  no- 
thing of  itself,  in  its  direct  nature ;  he  sees  us,  when  we 
act  them,  and  keeps  a  record  of  them ;  and  we  forget 
them,  unless  he  reminds  us  of  them  by  his  grace.  So 
"  that  to  confess  them  to  God  does  not  punish  us,  or  make 

*  1  Cor.  xi.  SI.  t  1  John  i.  9. 


OF  REPENTANCE.  235 

US  ashamed ;  but  confession  to  liim,  if  it  proceeds  from 
shame  and  sorrow,  and  is  an  act  of  humility  and  self-con- 
demnation," and  is  a  laying  open  our  wounds  for  cure, 
then  it  is  a  duty  God  delights  in.  In  all  which  circum- 
stances, because  we  may  very  much  be  helped,  if  we  take 
in  the  assistance  of  a  spiritual  guide  ;  therefore  the  church 
of  God,  in  all  ages,  hath  commended,  and,  in  most  ages, 
enjoined,  that  we  confess  our  sins,  and  discover  the  state 
and  condition  of  our  souls,  to  such  a  person,  whom  we 
or  our  superiors  judge  fit  to  help  us  in  such  needs.  For 
so  "  if  we  confess  our  sins  one  to  another,"  as  St.  James  ad- 
vises, we  shall  obtain  the  prayers  of  the  holy  man,  whom 
God  and  the  church  have  appointed  solemnly  to  pray  for 
us  :  and  when  he  knows  our  needs,  he  can  best  minister 
comfort  or  reproof,  oil  or  caustics ;  he  can  more  oppor- 
tunely recommend  your  particular  state  to  God ;  he  can 
determine  your  cases  of  conscience,  and  judge  better  for 
you,  than  you  do  for  yourself;  and  the  shame  of  opening 
such  ulcers  may  restrain  your  forwardness  to  contract 
them :  and  all  these  circumstances  of  advantage  will  do 
very  much  towards  the  forgiveness.  And  this  course  was 
taken  by  the  new  converts  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  ; 
"  For  many  that  believed,  came  and  confessed  and  showed 
their  deeds."*  And  it  were  well,  if  this  duty  were  practised 
prudently  and  innocently  in  order  to  public  discipline,  or 
private  comfort  and  instruction:  but  that  it  be  done  to 
God  is  a  duty,  not  directly  for  itself,  but  for  its  adjuncts, 
and  the  duties  that  go  with  it,  or  before  it,  or  after  it ; 
which  duties,  because  they  are  all  to  be  helped  and  guided 
by  our  pastors  and  curates  of  souls,  he  is  careful  of  his 
eternal  interest,  that  will  not  lose  the  advantage  of  using 
a  private  guide  and  judge.  "  He  that  hideth  his  sins  shall 
not  prosper ;"  (Non  dirigetur,  saith  the  vulgar  Latin,  "  he 
shall  want  a  guide,")  "  but  who  confesseth  and  forsaketh 
them,  shall  have  mercy. "f  And  to  this  purpose  Climacus 
reports,  that  divers  holy  persons  in  that  age  did  use  to  carry 
table-books  with  them,  and  in  them  described  an  account 
of  all  their  determinate  thoughts,  purposes,  words,  and  ac- 
tions, in  which  they  had  suffered  infirmity ;  that,  by  com- 
municating the  estate  of  their  souls,  they  might  be  instructed 
and  guided,  and  corrected  or  encouraged. 

6.  True  repentance  must  reduce  to  act  all  its  holy  pur- 

*  Acts  xix.  18.  -f  Prov.  xxviii.  13. 


236  OF  PRAYER. 

poses,  and  enter  into  and  run  through  the  state  of  holv 
living-,*  which  is  contrary  to  that  state  of  darkness,  in  which 
in  times  past  we  walked.  For  to  resolve  to  do  it,  and  yet 
not  to  do  it,  is  to  break  our  resolution  and  our  faith,  to 
mock  God,  to  falsify  and  evacuate  all  the  preceding  acts 
of  repentance,  and  to  make  our  pardon  hopeless,  and  our 
hope  fruitless.  He  that  resolves  to  live  well,  when  a  dan- 
ger is  upon  him,  or  a  violent  fear,  or  when  the  appetites  of 
lust  are  newly  satisfied,  or  newly  served,  and  yet  when  the 
temptation  comes  again,  sins  again,  and  then  is  sorrowful, 
and  resolves  once  more  against  it,  and  yet  falls  when  the 
temptation  returns,  is  a  vain  man,  but  no  true  penitent, 
nor  in  the  state  of  grace  ;  and  if  he  chance  to  die  in  one 
of  these  good  moods,  is  very  far  from  salvation ;  for  if  it  be 
necessary  that  we  resolve  to  live  well,  it  is  necessary  we 
should  do  so.  For  resolution  is  an  imperfect  act,  a  term 
of  relation,  and  signifies  nothing  but  in  order  to  the  actions  ; 
it  is  as  a  faculty  is  to  the  act,  as  spring  to  the  harvest,  as 
eggs  are  to  birds,  as  a  relative  to  its  correspondent,  nothing 
without  it.  No  man  therefore  can  be  in  the  state  of  grace 
and  actual  favour  by  resolutions  and  holy  purposes,  these 
are  but  the  gate  and  portal  towards  pardon  ;  a  holy  life  is 
the  only  perfection  of  repentance,  and  the  firm  ground 
upon  which  we  can  cast  the  anchor  of  hope  in  the  mercies 
of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ. 

7.  No  man  is  to  reckon  his  pardon  immediately  upon  his 
returns  from  sin  to  the  beginnings  of  good  life,  but  is  to 
begin  his  hopes  and  degrees  of  confidence  according  as 
sin  dies  in  him,  and  grace  lives  ;  as  the  habits  of  sin  lessen, 
and  righteousness  grows  ;  according  as  sin  returns,  but  sel- 
dom, in  smaller  instances  and  without  choice,  and  by  sur- 
prise without  deliberation,  and  is  highly  disrelished,  and 
presently  dashed  against  the  rock  Christ  Jesus  by  a  holy 
sorrow  and  renewed  care  and  more  strict  watchfulness. 
For  a  holy  life  being  the  condition  of  the  covenant  on  our 
part,  as  we  return  to  God  so  God  returns  to  us,  and  our 
state  returns  to  the  probabilities  of  pardon. 

8.  Every  man  is  to  work  out  his  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling ;  and  after  the  commission  of  sins  his  fears  must 
multiply  :  because  every  new  sin  and  every  great  declining 

*   Rom.   vi.  3.  4.7.   viii.  10.   xiii.  13,  14.   xi.  22.  27.     Gal.   v.  6.2'    v: 

15.  1  Cor.  vii.  19.      2  Cor.  xiii.  5.     Colos.  i.  21—23.      Heb.  xii.  1.  14.  16.  s. 

16.  22.     1  Pet.  i.  15.    2  Pet.  i.  4.  9.  10.  iii.  11.     1  John  i.  6.  iii.  8,  9.  v.  16. 


OF  REPENTA.NCE.  237 

from  the  ways  of  God  is  still  a  degree  of  new  danfrcr,  and 
hath  increased  God's  anger  and  hath  made  him  more  un- 
easy to  grant  pardon  :  and  when  he  does  grant  it,  it  is 
upon  harder  terms  both  for  doing  and  suffering;  that  is, 
we  must  do  more  for  pardon,  and,  it  may  be,  suffer  much 
more.  For  we  must  know,  that  God  pardons  our  sins  by 
parts ;  as  our  duty  increases,  and  our  care  is  more  pru- 
dent and  active,  so  God's  anger  decreases  :  and  yet,  it  may 
be,  the  last  sin  you  committed  made  God  unalterably  re- 
solve to  send  upon  you  some  sad  judgment.  Of  the  par- 
ticulars in  all  cases  we  are  uncertain  ;  and  therefore  we 
have  reason  always  to  mourn  for  our  sins,  that  have  so 
ptovoked  God,  and  made  our  condition  so  full  of  danger, 
that,  it  may  be,  no  prayers  or  tears  or  duty  can  alter  his 
sentence  concerning  some  sad  judgment  upon  us.  Thus 
God  irrevocably  decreed  to  punish  the  Israelites  for  idola- 
try, although  Moses  prayed  for  them,  and  God  forgave 
them  in  some  degree ;  that  is,  so  that  he  would  not  cut 
them  off  from  being  a  people  :  yet  he  would  not  forgive 
them  so,  but  he  would  visit  that  their  sin  upon  them :  and 
he  did  so. 

9.  A  true  penitent  must,  all  the  days  of  his  life,  pray  for 
pardon,  and  never  think  the  work  completed,  till  he  dies  ; 
not  by  any  act  of  his  own,  by  no  act  of  the  church,  by 
no  forgiveness  by  the  party  injured,  by  no  restitution. 
These  are  all  instruments  of  great  use  and  efficacy,  and 
the  means  by  which  it  is  to  be  done  at  length ;  but  still 
the  sin  lies  at  the  door,  ready  to  return  upon  us  in  judg- 
ment and  damnation,  if  we  return  to  it  in  choice  or  action. 
And  whether  God  hath  forgiven  us  or  no,  we  know  not, 
and  ho\v  far  we  know  not ;  and  all  that  we  have  done,  is 
not  of  sufficient  worth  to  obtain  pardon  :  therefore  still  pray, 
and  still  be  sorrowful  for  ever  having  done  it,  and  for  ever 
watch  against  it ;  and  then  those  beginnings  of  pardon, 
which  are  working  all  the  Avay,  will  at  last  be  perfected  in 
the  day  of  the  Lord. 

10.  Defer  not  at  all  to  repent ;  much  less,  mayest  thou 
put  it  off  to  thy  death-bed.  It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  root 
out  the  habits  of  sin,  which  a  man's  whole  life  hath  ga- 
thered and  confirmed.  We  find  work  enough  to  mortify  one 
beloved  lust,  in  our  very  best  advantage  of  strength  and 
time,  before  it  is  so  deeply  rooted,  as  it  must  needs  be 
suj)posed  to  be  at  the  end  of  a  wicked  life  :  and  therefore  it 


238  OF  REPENTANCE. 

will  prove  impossible,  when  the  work  is  so  great  and  the 
strength  so  little,  when  sin  is  so  strong  and  grace  so  weak: 
for  they  always  keep  the  same  proportion  of  increase  and  de- 
crease, and  as  sm  grows,  grace  decays  :  so  that  the  more 
need  we  have  of  grace,  the  less  at  that  time  we  shall  have ; 
because  the  greatness  of  our  sins,  which  makes  the  need, 
hath  lessened  the  grace  of  God,  which  should  help  us,  in- 
to nothing.  To  which  add  this  consideration ;  that  on  a 
man's  death-bed  the  day  of  repentance  is  past :  for  repen- 
tance being  the  renewing  of  a  holy  life,  a  living  the  life  of 
grace,  it  is  a  contradiction  to  say  that  a  man  can  live  a 
holy  life  upon  his  death-bed  ;  especially  if  we  consider,  that 
for  a  sinner  to  live  a  holy  life  must  first  suppose  him  to 
have  overcome  all  his  evil  habits,  and  then  to  have  made 
a  purchase  of  the  contrary  graces,  by  the  labours  of  great 
prudence,  watchfulness,  self-denial  and  severity.  "  Nothing 
that  is  excellent,  can  be  wrought  suddenly." 

11.  After  the  beginnings  of  thy  recovery,  be  infinitely 
fearful  of  a  relapse  ;  and  therefore,  upon  the  stock  of  thy 
sad  experience,  observe  where  thy  failings  were,  and  by 
especial  arts  fortify  that  faculty  and  arm  against  that  temp- 
tation. For  if  all  those  arguments,  which  God  uses  to 
us  to  preserve  our  innocence,  and  thy  late  danger,  and  thy 
fears,  and  the  goodness  of  God  making  thee  once  to  es- 
cape, and  the  shame  of  thy  fall,  and  the  sense  of  thy  own 
weaknesses,  will  not  make  thee  watchful  against  a  fall,  es- 
pecially knowing  how  much  it  costs  a  man  to  be  restored, 
it  will  be  infinitely  more  dangerous,  if  ever  thou  fallest 
again ;  not  only  for  fear  God  should  no  more  accept  thee  to 
pardon,  but  even  thy  own  hopes  will  be  made  more  despe- 
rate, and  thy  impatience  greater,  and  thy  shame  turn  to  im- 
pudence, and  thy  own  will  be  more  estranged,  violent,  and 
refractory,  and  thy  latter  end  will  be  worse  than  thy  begin- 
ning. To  which  add  this  consideration  :  tJiat  thy  sin,  which 
was  formerly  in  a  good  way  of  being  pardoned,  will  not  only 
return  upon  thee  with  all  its  own  loads,  but  with  the  baseness 
of  unthankfulncss,  and  thou  wilt  be  set  as  far  back  from 
heaven  as  ever ;  and  all  thy  former  labours,  and  fears,  and 
watchings,  and  agonies,  will  be  reckoned  for  nothing,  but 
as  arguments  to  upbraid  thy  folly,  who,  v/hen  thou  hadst 
set  one  foot  in  heaven,  didst  pull  that  back,  and  carry  both 
to  hell. 


OK  rl:p::.\tance.  239 

Motives  to  Repentance. 
1  shall  use  no  other  arguments  to  move  a  sinner  to  repent- 
ance, but  to  tell  him,  unless  he  does,  he  shall  certainly 
perish;  and  if  he  does  repent  timely  and  entirely;  that  is, 
live  a  holy  life,  he  shall  be  forgiven  and  be  saved.  But 
yet  I  desire,  that  this  consideration  be  enlarged  with  some 
great  circumstances  ;  and  let  us  remember, 

1.  That  to  admit  mankind  to  repentance  and  pardon, 
was  a  favour  greater  than  ever  God  gave  to  the  angels  and 
devils ;  for  they  were  never  admitted  to  the  condition  of 
second  thoughts :  Christ  never  groaned  one  groan  for 
them  :  he  never  suffered  oiie  stripe  nor  one  affront,  nor 
shed  one  drop  of  blood,  to  restore  them  to  hopes  of  blessed- 
ness after  their  first  failings.  But  this  he  did  for  us :  he  paid 
the  score  of  our  sins,  only  that  we  might  be  admitted  to  re- 
pent, and  that  this  repentance  might  be  effectual  to  the 
great  purposes  of  felicity  and  salvation. 

2.  Consider,  that  as  it  cost  Christ  many  millions  of 
prayers,  and  groans,  and  sighs,  so  he  is  now  at  this  instant, 
and  hath  been  for  these  sixteen  hundred  years,  night  and 
day  incessantly,  praying  for  grace  to  us,  that  we  may  repent ; 
and  for  pardon,  when  we  do ;  and  for  degrees  of  pardon 
beyond  the  capacities  of  our  infirmities,  and  the  merit  of 
our  sorrows  and  amendment ;  and  this  prayer  he  will  con- 
tinue till  his  second  coming :  "  for  he  ever  liveth  to  make 
intercession  for  us."*  And  that  we  may  know  what  it  is,  in 
behalf  of  which  he  intercedes,  St.  Paul  tells  us  his  design  ; 
"  We  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  thouL-'i  he  did  beseech 
you  by  us,  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead  to  be  reconciled 
to  God."f  And  what  Christ  prays  us  to  do,  he  prays  to 
God  that  we  may  do  ;  that  which  he  desires  of  us  as  his 
servants,  he  desires  of  God,  who  is  the  fountain  of  the  grace 
and  powers  unto  us,  and  without  whose  assistance  we  can 
do  nothing. 

3.  That  ever  we  should  repent,  was  so  costly  a  purchase, 
and  so  great  a  concernment,  and  so  high  a  favour,  and  the 
event  is  esteemed  by  God  himself  so  great  an  excellency, 
that  our  blessed  Saviour  tell  us,  "  there  shall  be  joy  in 
heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth :":{:  meaning,  that 
when  Christ  shall  be  glorified,  and  at  the  right  hand  of  his 
Father  make  intercession  for  us,  praying  for  our  repentance, 

*  Heb.  vii.  15.  t  2  Cor.  v.  20.  J  Luke  xv.  7. 


240  ^^  REPENTANCE. 

the  conversion  and  repentance  of  every  sinner  is  part  of 
Christ's  glorification,  it  is  the  answering  of  his  prayers,  it 
is  a  portion  of  his  reward,  in  which  he  does  essentially 
glory  by  the  joys  of  his  glorified  humanity.  This  is  the 
joy  of  our  Lord  himself  directly,  not  of  the  angels,  save 
only  by  reflection ;  the  joy  (said  our  blessed  Saviour)  shall 
be  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  ;  they  shall  see  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  the  answering  of  his  prayers,  the  satisfaction 
of  his  desires,  and  the  reward  of  his  sufferings  in  the  re- 
pentance and  consequent  pardon  of  a  sinner.  For  there- 
fore he  once  suffered,  and  for  that  reason  he  rejoices  for 
ever.  And  therefore,  when  a  penitent  sinner  comes  to  re- 
ceive the  eflfect  and  full  consummation  of  his  pardon,  it  is 
called  "an  entering  into  the  joy  of  our  Lord;"  that  is,  a 
partaking  of  that  joy,  which  Christ  received  at  our  conversion, 
and  enjoyed  ever  since. 

4.  Add  to  this,  that  the  rewards  of  heaven  are  so  great 
and  glorious,  and  Christ's  burden  is  so  light,  his  yoke  is  so 
easy,  that  it  is  a  shameless  impudence  to  expect  so  great 
glories  at  a  less  rate  than  so  little  a  service,  at  a  lower  rate 
than  a  holy  life.  It  cost  the  heart-blood  of  the  Son  of  God 
to  obtain  heaven  for  us  upon  that  condition,  and  who  shall 
die  again  to  get  heaven  for  us  upon  easier  terms  ?  What 
would  you  do,  if  God  should  command  you  to  kill  your 
eldest  son,  or  to  work  in  the  mines  for  a  thousand  years  to- 
gether, or  to  fast  all  thy  lifetime  with  bread  and  water? 
were  not  heaven  a  very  great  bargain  even  after  all  this  ? 
And  when  God  requires  nothing  of  us  but  to  live  soberly, 
justly,  and  godly,  (which  things  of  themselves  are  to  a  man 
a  very  great  felicity,  and  necessary  to  our  present  well- 
being,)  shall  we  think  this  to  be  an  intolerable  burden,  and 
that  heaven  is  too  little  a  purchase  at  that  price  ;  and  that 
God,  in  mere  justice,  will  take  a  death-bed  sigh  or  groan, 
and  a  few  unprofitable  tears  and  promises  in  exchange  for 
all  our  duty. 

If  these  motives  joined  together  with  our  own  interest, 
even  as  much  as  felicity,  and  the  sight  of  God,  and  the 
avoiding  the  intolerable  pains  of  hell,  and  many  interme- 
dial judgments  come  to,  will  not  move  us  to  leave,  1.  the 
filthiness,  and,  2.  the  trouble,  and,  3.  the  uneasiness,  and, 
4.  the  unreasonableness  of  sin,  and  turn  to  God,  there  is 
no  more  to  be  said ;  we  must  perish  in  our  folly. 


PREPARATION  TO  THE  HOLY  SACRAMENT.  241 

SECTION  X. 

Of  Preparation  to,  and  the  Manner  how  to  Receive  the  Holy 
Sacrament  of  the  Loi'cfs  Supper. 
The  celebration  of  the  holy  sacrament  is  the  great  mys- 
teriousness  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  succeeds  to  the 
most  solemn  rite  of  natural  and  Judaical  religion,  the  law 
of  sacrificing.  For  God  spared  mankind,  and  took  the  sa- 
crifice of  beasts,  together  with  our  solemn  prayers,  for  an 
instrument  of  expiation.  But  these  could  not  purify  the 
soul  from  sin,  but  were  typical  of  the  sacrifice  of  something 
that  could.  But  nothing  could  do  this,  but  either  the  oflfer- 
ing  of  all  that  sinned,  that  every  man  should  be  the  anathema 
or  devoted  thing  ;  or  else  by  some  one  of  the  same  capacity, 
who  by  some  superadded  excellency  might  in  his  own  per- 
sonal sufferings  have  a  value  great  enough  to  satisfy  for  all 
the  whole  kind  of  sinning  persons.  This  the  Son  of  God, 
Jesus  Christ,  God  and  man,  undertook,  and  finished  by  a 
sacrifice  of  himself  upon  the  altar  of  the  cross. 

2.  This  sacrifice,  because  it  was  perfect,  could  be  but 
one,  and  that  once :  but  because  the  needs  of  the  world 
should  last  as  long  as  the  world  itself,  it  was  necessary, 
that  there  should  be  a  perpetual  ministry  established, 
whereby  this  one  sufficient  sacrifice  should  be  made  eter- 
nally effectual  to  the  several  new  arising  needs  of  all  the 
world,  who  should  desire  it,  or  in  any  sense  be  capable 
of  it. 

3.  To  this  end  Christ  was  made  a  priest  for  ever  :  he  was 
initiated  or  consecrated  on  the  cross,  and  there  began  his 
priesthood,  which  was  to  last  till  his  coming  to  judgment. 
It  began  on  earth,  but  was  to  last  and  be  officiated  in  hea- 
ven, where  he  sits  perpetually  representing  and  exhibiting 
to  the  Father  that  great  effective  sacrifice,  which  he  offered 
on  the  cross,  to  eternal  and  never-failing  purposes. 

4.  As  Christ  is  pleased  to  represent  to  his  Father  that 
great  sacrifice  as  a  means  of  atonement  and  expiation  for 
all  mankind,  and  with  special  purposes  and  intendment  for 
all  the  elect,  all  that  serve  him  in  holiness :  so  he  hath 
appointed,  that  the  same  ministry  shall  be  done  upon 
earth  too,  in  our  manner,  and  according  to  our  proportion  ; 
and  therefore  hath  constituted  and  separated  an  order  of  men, 
who,  by  "  showing  forth  the  Lord's  death,"  by  sacramental 
representation,  may  pray  unto  God  after  the  same  manner 

Z 


242  PREPARATION  TO 

that  our  Lord  and  higli-priest  does;  that  is,  offer  to  God  and 
represent  in  this  solemn  prayer  and  sacrament,  Christ  as 
ah-eady  offered  ;  so  sending  up  a  gracious  instrument,  where- 
by our  prayers  may,  for  his  sake  and  in  the  same  manner  of 
intercession,  be  offered  up  to  God  in  our  behalf,  and  for  all 
them  for  whom  we  pray,  to  all  those  purposes  for  which 
Christ  died. 

5.  As  the  ministers  of  the  sacrament  do,  in  a  sacra- 
mental manner,  present  to  God  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross, 
by  being  imitators  of  Christ's  intercession  :  so  the  people 
are  sacrificers  too  in  their  manner :  for  besides  that,  by 
Buying  Amen,  they  join  in  the  act  of  him  that  ministers,  and 
make  it  also  to  be  their  own  ;  so,  when  they  eat  and  drink 
the  consecrated  and  blessed  elements  worthily,  they  re- 
ceive Christ  within  them,  and  therefore  may  also  offer  him 
to  God,  while,  in  their  sacrifice  of  obedience  and  thanks- 
giving, they  present  themselves  to  God  with  Christ,  whom 
they  have  spiritually  received,  that  is,  themselves  with  that, 
which  will  make  them  gracious  and  acceptable.  The  offer- 
ing their  bodies  and  souls  and  services  to  God  in  him,  and 
by  him,  and  with  him,  who  is  his  Father's  well-beloved,  and 
in  whom  he  is  well  pleased,  cannot  but  be  accepted  to  all 
the  purposes  of  blessing,  grace,  and  glory. 

6.  This  is  the  sum  of  the  greatest  mystery  of  our  reli- 
gion ;  it  is  the  copy  of  the  passion,  and  the  ministration  of 
the  great  mystery  of  our  redemption  :  and  therefore,  what- 
soever entitles  us  to  the  general  privileges  of  Christ's 
passion,  all  that  is  necessary  by  way  of  disposition  to  the 
celebration  of  the  sacrament  of  his  passion ;  because  this 
celebration  is  our  manner  of  applying  or  using  it.  The  par- 
ticulars of  which  preparation  are  represented  in  the  fol- 
lowing rules. 

1.  No  man  must  dare  to  approach  to  the  holy  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  supper,  if  he  be  in  a  state  of  any  one  sin, 
that  is,  unless  he  have  entered  into  the  state  of  repentance, 
that  is,  of  sorrow  and  amendment ;  lest  it  be  said  concern- 
ing him,  as  it  was  concerning  Judas,  the  hand  of  him  that 
betrayeth  me,  is  with  me  on  the  table  :  and  he  that  re- 
ceiveth  Christ  into  an  impure  soul  or  body,  first  turns  his 
most  excellent  nourishment  into  poison,  and  then  feeds 
upon  it. 

2.  Every  communicant  must  first  have  examined  him- 
self,   that    is,  tried  the  condition  and  state  of   his   soul, 


Tin:  ilULV  SACRAMENT.  243 

searched  out  the  scent  ulcers,  inquired  out  its  weaknesses 
and  indiscretions,  and  all  those  aptnesses,  where  it  is  ex- 
posed to  temptation  ;  that  by  finding  out  its  diseases  he 
rnay  lind  a  cure  ;  and  by  discovering  its  aptnesses  he  may 
secure  its  present  purposes  of  future  amendment,  and  may 
be  armed  agaiiist  dangers  and  temptations. 

3.  This  examination  must  be  a  man's  own  act,  and  in- 
quisition in  his  life  :  but  then  also  it  should  lead  a  man  on 
to  run  to  those,  whom  the  great  Physician  of  our  souls,  Christ 
Jesus,  hath  appointed  to  minister  physic  to  our  diseases  ; 
that,  in  all  dangers  and  great  accidents,  we  may  be  assisted 
for  comfort  and  remedy,  for  medicine  an  1  caution. 

4.  In  this  affair  let  no  man  deceive  himself,  and  against 
such  a  time  which  public  authority  hath  appointed  for  us 
to  receive  the  sacrament,  weep  for  his  sins  by  way  of  so- 
lemnity and  ceremony,  and  still  retain  the  affection  ;  but 
he  that  comes  to  this  feast,  must  have  on  the  wedding- 
garment,  that  is,  he  must  have  put  on  Jesus  Christ,  and 
he  must  have  put  oft'  the  old  man  with  his  affections  and 
lusts  :  and  he  must  be  wholly  conformed  to  Christ  in  the 
image  of  his  mind.  For  then  we  have  put  on  Christ, 
when  our  souls  are  clothed  with  his  righteousness,  when 
every  faculty  of  our  soul  is  proportioned  and  vested  ac- 
cording to  the  pattern  of  Christ's  life.  And  therefore  a 
man  must  not  leap  from  his  last  night's  surfeit  and  bath, 
and  then  communicate ;  but  when  he  hath  begun  the  work 
of  God  effectually,  and  made  some  progress  in  repentance, 
and  hath  walked  some  stages  and  periods  in  the  ways  of 
godliness,  then  let  him  come  to  him  that  is  to  minister  it, 
and  having  made  known  the  state  of  his  soul,  he  is  to  be 
admitted :  but  to  receive  it  into  an  unhallowed  soul  and 
body,  is  to  receive  the  dust  of  the  tabernacle  in  the  waters 
of  jealousy  ;  it  will  make  the  belly  to  swell,  and  the  thigh 
to  rot ;  it  will  not  convey  Christ  to  us,  but  the  devil  will 
enter  and  dwell  there,  till  with  it  he  returns  to  his  dwell- 
ing of  torment.  Remember  always,  that  after  a  great  sin, 
or  after  a  habit  of  sins,  a  man  is  not  soon  made  clean ; 
and  no  unclean  thing  must  come  to  this  feast.  It  is  not 
the  preparation  of  two  or  three  days,  that  can  render  a 
person  capable  of  this  banquet :  for,  in  this  feast,  all  Christ, 
and  Christ's  passion,  and  all  his  graces,  the  blessings  and 
effects  of  his  sufferings,  are  conveyed.  Nothing  can  fit  us 
for  this,  but  wljat  can  unite  us  to  Christ,  and  obtain  of  him 


244  PRKI'ARATION  TO 

to  present  our  needs  to  liis  heavenly  Fatlier  :  lliis  sacrament 
can  no  otherwise  be  celebrated  but  upon  the  same  terms,  on 
which  we  may  hope  for  pardon  and  heaven  itself. 

5.  When  wc  have  this  general  and  indispensably-neces- 
sary preparation,  wc  are  to  make  our  souls  more  adorned 
and  trimmed  up  with  circumstances  of  pious  actions  and 
s})ecial  devotions,  setting  apart  some  portion  of  our  time  im- 
mediately before  the  day  of  solemnity,  accordinjy  as  our 
great  occasions  will  permit :  and  this  time  is  especially  to 
be  spent  in  actions  of  repentance,  confession  of  our  sins, 
renewing  our  purposes  of  holy  living,  praying  for  j)ardon  of 
our  failings,  and  for  those  graces,  which  may  prevent  the 
like  sadnesses  for  tlie  time  to  come,  meditation  upon  the 
passion,  upon  the  infinite  love  of  God  expressed  in  so  great 
mysterious  manners  of  redemption  ;  and  indefinitely  in  all 
acts  of  virtue,  which  may  build  our  souls  up  into  a  temple 
fit  for  the  reception  of  Christ  himself  and  the  inhabitation 
of  the  Holy  Si)irit. 

6.  The  celebration  of  the  holy  sacrament  being  the  most 
solemn  prayer,  joined  Avith  the  most  eflectual  instrument 
of  its  acceptance,  must  suj)pose  us  in  the  love  of  God  and 
in  charity  with  all  the  world  :  and  therefore  we  must,  be- 
fore every  comnuuiion  especially,  remember  what  differ- 
ences or  jealousies  are  between  us  and  any  one  else,  and 
recompose  all  disunions,  and  cause  right  understandings 
between  each  other ;  offering  to  satisfy  whom  we  have  in- 
jured, and  to  forgive  them  who  have  injured  us,  without 
thoughts  of  resuming  the  quarrel,  when  the  solemnity  is 
over ;  for  that  is  but  to  rake  the  embers  in  light  and  fan- 
tastic ashes :  it  must  be  quenched,  and  a  holy  flame  en- 
kindled :  no  fires  must  be  at  all,  but  the  fires  of  love  and 
zeal :  and  the  altar  of  incense  will  send  up  a  sweet  perfume, 
and  make  atonement  for  us. 

7.  When  the  day  of  the  feast  is  come,  lay  aside  all  cares 
and  impertinences  of  the  world,  and  remember  that  this  is 
thy  soul's  day,  a  day  of  traffic  and  intercourse  with  heaven. 
Arise  early  in  the  morning.  1.  Give  God  thanks  for  the 
apj)roacli  of  so  great  a  blessing.  2.  Confess  thine  own 
unworthiness  to  admit  so  Divine  a  guest.  3.  Then  re- 
member and  deplore  thy  sins,  which  have  made  thee  so 
unworthy.  4.  Then  confess  God's  goodness,  and  take 
sanctuary  there,  and  upon  him  place  thy  hopes.  5.  And 
invite  him  to  thee  with  renewed  acts  of  love,  of  holy  desire, 


THE  HOLY  SACRAMENT.  245 

of  hatred  of  his  enemy,  sin.  G.  Make  oblation  of  thyself 
wholly  to  be  disposed  by  him,  to  the  obedience  of  him,  to 
his  providence  and  possession,  and  pray  hi  in  to  enter  and 
dwell  there  for  ever.  And  after  this,  with  joy  and  holy 
fear  and  the  forwardness  of  love,  address  thyself  to  tlie  re- 
ceiving of  him,  to  whom,  and  by  whom,  and  for  whom,  all 
faith,  and  all  hope,  and  all  love,  in  the  whole  catholic  church, 
both  in  heaven  and  earth,  is  designed  ;  him,  whom  kings, 
and  queens,  and  whole  kingdoms,  are  in  love  with,  and 
count  it  the  greatest  honour  in  the  world,  that  their  crowns 
and  sceptres  are  laid  at  his  holy  feet. 

8.  When  the  holy  man  stands  at  the  table  of  blessing, 
and  ministers  tlie  rite  of  consecration,  then  do  as  the  angels 
do,  who  behold,  and  love,  and  wonder  that  the  Son  of 
God  should  become  food  to  the  souls  of  his  servants ;  that 
he,  who  cannot  sutier  any  change  or  lessening,  should  be 
broken  into  pieces,  and  enter  into  the  body  to  support  and 
nourish  the  spirit,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  remain  in  hea- 
ven, while  he  descends  to  thee  upon  earth ;  that  he  who 
hath  essential  felicity,  should  become  miserable  and  die  for 
thee,  and  then  give  himself  to  thee  for  ever  to  redeem  thee 
from  sin  and  misery  ;  that  by  his  wounds  he  should  procure 
health  to  thee,  and  by  his  affronts  he  should  entitle  thee 
to  glory,  by  his  death  he  should  bring  thee  to  life,  and  by 
becoming  a  man  he  should  make  thee  partaker  of  the  Divine 
nature.  These  are  such  glories,  that  although  they  are 
made  so  obvious,  that  eacii  eye  may  behold  them,  yet  they 
are  also  so  deep,  that  no  thought  can  fathom  them  ;  but 
so  it  hath  pleased  him  to  make  these  mysteries  to  be  sensi- 
ble, because  the  excellency  and  depth  of  the  mercy  is  not 
intelligible  ;  that  while  we  are  ravished  and  coiriprehended 
within  the  infiniteness  of  so  vast  and  mysterious  a  mercy, 
yet  we  may  be  as  sure  of  it  as  of  tliat  thing  we  see,  and 
feel,  and  smell,  and  taste  ;  but  yet  it  is  so  great,  that  we 
cannot  understand  it. 

9.  These  holy  mysteries  are  offered  to  our  senses,  but 
not  to  be  placed  under  our  feet :  they  are  sensible,  but  not 
common  :  and  therefore  as  the  weakness  of  the  elements 
adds  wonder  to  the  excellency  of  the  sacrament :  so  let 
our  reverence  and  venerable  usages  of  them  add  honour 
to  the  elements,  and  acknowledge  the  glory  of  the  mystery, 
and  the  divinity  of  the  mercy.  Let  us  receive  the  conse- 
crated elements  with  all  devotion  and  humility  of  body  and 


246  RECEIVING  THE 

spirit ;  and  do  this  honour  to  it,  that  it  be  the  first  food  we 
eat,  and  the  first  beverage  we  drink  that  day,  unless  it  be 
in  case  of  sickness,  or  other  great  necessity  ;  and  that  your 
body  and  soul  both  be  prepared  to  its  reception  with  ab- 
stinence from  secular  pleasures,  that  you  may  better  have 
attended  fastings  and  preparatory  prayers.  For  if  ever  it 
be  seasonable  to  observe  the  counsel  of  St.  Paul,  that  mar- 
ried persons  by  consent  should  abstain  for  a  time,  that  they 
may  attend  to  solemn  religion,  it  is  now.  It  was  not  by  St. 
Paul  nor  the  after-ages  of  the  church  called  a  duty  so  to  do, 
but  it  is  most  reasonable,  that  the  more  solemn  actions  of 
religion  should  be  attended  to  without  the  mixture  of  any 
thing  that  may  discompose  the  mind  and  make  it  more 
secular  or  less  religious. 

10.  In  the  act  of  receiving,  exercise  acts  of  faith  with 
much  confidence  and  resignation,  believing  it  not  to  be 
common  bread  and  wine,  but  holy  in  their  use,  holy  in 
their  signification,  holy  in  their  change,  and  holy  in  their 
effect :  and  believe,  if  thou  art  a  worthy  communicant,  thou 
dost  as  verily  receive  Christ's  body  and  blood  to  all  effects 
and  purposes  of  the  Spirit,  as  thou  dost  receive  the  blessed 
elements  into  thy  mouth,  that  thou  puttest  thy  finger  to  his 
hand,  and  thy  hand  into  his  side,  and  thy  lips  to  his  fontinel 
of  blood,  sucking  life  from  his  heart:  and  yet  if  thou  dost 
communicate  unworthily,  thou  eatest  and  drinkest  Christ 
to  thy  danger,  and  death,  and  destruction.  Dispute  not 
concerning  the  secret  of  the  mystery,  and  the  nicety  of  the 
manner  of  Christ's  presence  :  it  is  sufficient  to  thee,  that 
Christ  shall  be  present  to  thy  soul,  as  an  instrument  of 
grace,  as  a  pledge  of  the  resurrection,  as  the  earnest  of 
glory  and  immortality,  and  a  means  of  many  intermedial 
blessings,  even  all  such  as  are  necessary  for  thee,  and  are 
in  order  to  thy  salvation.  And  to  make  all  this  good  to 
thee,  there  is  nothing  necessary  on  thy  part  but  a  holy  life, 
and  a  true  belief  of  all  the  sayings  of  Christ ;  amongst 
which,  indefinitely  assent  to  the  words  of  institution,  and 
believe  that  Christ,  in  the  holy  sacrament,  gives  thee  his 
body  and  his  blood.  He  that  believes  so  much,  needs  not 
to  inquire  farther,  nor  to  entangle  his  faith  by  disbelieving 
his  sense. 

11.  Fail  not,  at  this  solemnity,  according  to  the  custom 
of  pious  and  devout  people,  to  make  an  offering  to  God 
for  uses  of  religion  and  the  poor,  according  to  thy  ability. 


HOLY  SACRAMENT.  247 

For  when  Christ  feasts  his  body,  let  us  also  feast  our  fel- 
low-members, who  have  right  to  the  same  promises,  and 
are  partakers  of  the  same  sacrament,  and  partners  of  the 
same  hope,  and  cared  for  under  the  same  Providence,  and 
descended  from  the  same  common  parents,  and  whose 
Father  God  is,  and  Christ  is  their  elder  brother.  If  thou 
chancest  to  communicate,  where  this  holy  custom  is  not 
observed  publicly,  supply  that  want  by  thy  private  charity  : 
but  offer  it  to  God  at  his  holy  table,  at  least  by  thy  private 
designing  it  there. 

12.  When  you  have  received,  pray  and  give  thanks. 
Pray  for  all  estates  of  men ;  for  they  also  have  an  interest 
in  the  body  of  Christ,  whereof  they  are  members  :  and  you, 
in  conjunction  with  Christ  (whom  then  you  have  received,) 
are  more  fit  to  pray  for  them  in  that  advantage,  and  in  the 
celebration  of  that  holy  sacrifice,  which  then  is  sacrament- 
ally  represented  to  God.  Give  thanks  for  the  passion  of 
our  dearest  Lord  :  remember  all  its  parts,  and  all  the  instru- 
ments of  your  redemption  ;  and  beg  of  God,  that  by  a  holy 
perseverance  in  well-doing,  you  may  from  shadows  pass  on 
to  substances,  from  eating  his  body  to  seeing  his  face,  from 
the  typical,  sacramental,  and  transient,  to  the  real  and 
eternal  supper  of  the  Lamb. 

13.  After  the  solemnity  is  done,  let  Christ  dwell  in  your 
hearts  by  faith,  and  love,  and  obedience,  and  conformity 
to  his  life  and  death :  as  you  have  taken  Christ  into  you, 
so  put  Christ  on  you,  and  conform  every  faculty  of  your 
soul  and  body  to  his  holy  image  and  perfection.  He- 
member  that  now  Christ  is  all  one  with  you ;  and  there- 
fore when  you  are  to  do  an  action,  consider  how  Christ 
did,  or  would  do,  the  like,  and  do  you  imitate  his  example, 
and  transcribe  his  copy,  and  understand  all  his  command- 
ments, and  choose  all  that  he  propounded,  and  desire  his 
promises,  and  fear  his  threatenings,  and  marry  his  loves  and 
hatreds,  and  contract  his  friendships  ;  for  then  you  do  every 
day  communicate ;  especially  when  Christ  thus  dwells  in 
you,  and  you  in  Christ,  growing  up  towards  a  perfect  man 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

14.  Do  not  instantly,  upon  your  return  from  church, 
return  also  to  the  world,  and  secular  thoughts  and  employ- 
ment ;  but  let  the  remaining  parts  of  that  day  be  like  a 
post-communion,  or  an  after-oflBce,  entertaining  your  bless- 
ed Lord  with  all  the    caresses  and  sweetness  of  love  and 


248  RECEIVING  THE 

colloquies,  and  intercourses  of  duly  and  affection,  acquaint- 
ing him  witli  all  your  needs,  and  revealing  to  him  all  your 
secrets,  and  opening  all  your  infirmities  ;  and  as  the  affairs 
of  your  persons  or  employment  call  you  off,  so  retire  again 
with  often  ejaculations  and  acts  of  entertainment  to  your 
beloved  guest. 

The  Effects  and  Benefits  of  Worthy  Commwiicating. 
When  I  said,  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  which  Christ 
offered  for  all  the  sins  and  all  the  needs  of  the  world,  is  re- 
presented to  God  by  the  minister  in  tlie  sacrament,  and 
offered    up    in   prayer  and  sacramental  memory,  after  the 
manner  that  Christ  himself  intercedes  for  us  in  heaven  (so 
far  as  his  glorious  priesthood  is  imitable  by  his  ministers  on 
earth,)  I  must  of  necessity  also  mean,  that  all  the  benefits 
of  that  sacrifice  are  then  conveyed  to  all  that  communi- 
cate worthily.     But  if  we  descend  to  particulars,  then  and 
there  the  church  is  nourished  in  her  faith,  strengthened  in 
her  hope,  enlarged  in  her  bowels  with  an  increasing  cha- 
rity ;  there  all  the  members  of  Christ  are  joined  with  each 
other,  and  all  to  Christ  their  head;  and  we  again  renew 
the  covenant  with  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  God  seals  his 
part,  and  we  pronuse  for  ours,  and  Christ  unites  both,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  signs  both  in  the  collation  of  those   graces 
which  we  then  pray  for,  and  exercise  and  receive  all  at 
once.  There  our  bodies  are  nourished  with  the  signs,  and  our 
souls  with  the  mystery  ;  our  bodies  receive  into  them  the 
seed  of  an  immortal  nature,  and  our  souls  are  joined  with  him, 
who  is  the  first-fruits  of  the  resurrection,  and  never  can  die. 
And  if  we  desire  any  thing  else  and  need  it,  here  it  is  to  be 
prayed  for,  here  to  be  hoped  for,  here  to  be  received.    Long 
life  and  health,  and  recovery  from  sickness,  and  competent 
support  and  maintenance,  and  peace  and  deliverance  from 
our  enemies,  and  content,  and  patience,  and  joy,  and  sanc- 
tified riches,  or  a  cheerful  poverty,  and  liberty,  and  whatso- 
ever else  is  a  blessing,  was  purchased  for  us  by  Christ  in 
his  death  and  rcsin-rection,  and  in  his  intercession  in  heaven. 
And  this  sacrament  being  that  to  our  particulars  which  the 
great  mysteries  are  in  themselves,  and  by  design  to  all  the 
world,  if  we  receive  worthily,  we  shall  receive  any  of  these 
blessings,  according  as  God  shall  choose  for  us  ;  and  he  will 
not  only  choo;^c  with  more  wisdom,  but  also  with  more  af- 
fection, than  we  can  for  ourselves. 


HOLY  SACRAMENT.  249 

After  all  this,  it  is  advised  by  the  guides  of  souls,  wise 
men  and  pious,  that  all  persons  should  communicate  very 
often,  even  as  often  as  they  can  without  excuses  or  delays. 
Every  thing  that  puts  us  from  so  holy  an  employment, 
when  we  are  moved  to  it,  being  either  a  sin  or  an  imper- 
fection, an  infirmity  or  indevotion,  and  an  inactiveness  of 
spirit.  All  Christian  people  must  come.  They  indeed,  that 
are  in  the  state  of  sin,  must  not  come  so,  but  yet  they  must 
come.  First  they  must  quit  their  state  of  death,  and  then 
partake  of  the  bread  of  life.  They  that  are  at  enmity  with 
their  neighbours,  must  come,  that  is  no  excuse  for  their  not 
coming ;  only  they  must  not  bring  their  enmity  along  with 
them,  but  leave  it,  and  then  come.  They  that  have  variety 
of  secular  employment,  must  come;  only  they  must  leave 
their  secular  thoughts  and  affections  behind  them,  and  then 
come  and  converse  with  God.  If  any  man  be  well  grown 
in  grace,  he  must  needs  come,  because  he  is  excellently 
disposed  to  so  holy  a  feast:  but  he  that  is  but  in  the  infancy 
of  piety,  had  need  to  come,  that  so  he  may  grow  in  grace. 
The  strong  must  come,  lest  they  become  weak  ;  and  the 
weak,  that  they  may  become  strong.  The  sick  must  come 
to  be  cured,  the  healthful  to  be  preserved.  They  that  have 
leisure  must  come,  because  they  have  no  excuse  :  they  that 
have  no  leisure,  must  come  hither,  that  by  so  excellent  re- 
ligion they  may  sanctify  their  business.  The  penitent  sin- 
ners must  come,  that  they  may  be  justified ;  and  they  that 
are  justified,  that  they  may  be  justified  still.  They  that  have 
fears  and  great  reverence  to  these  mysteries,  and  think  no 
preparation  to  be  sufficient,  must  receive,  that  they  may 
learn  how  to  receive  the  more  worthily  :  and  they  that  have 
a  less  degree  of  reverence,  must  come  often  to  have  it  height- 
ened :  that  as  those  creatures  that  live  amongst  the  snows 
of  the  mountains,  turn  white  with  their  food  and  conver- 
sation with  such  perpetual  whitenesses  ;  so  our  souls  may  be 
transformed  into  the  similitude  and  union  with  Christ  by 
our  perpetual  feeding  on  him,  and  conversation,  not  only  in 
his  courts,  but  in  his  very  heart,  and  most  secret  affections, 
and  incomparable  purities. 


250  PRAYERS  FOR 

Prayers  for  all  sorts  of  Men  and  all  Necessities  ;  relating 
to  the  several  parts  of  the  Virtue  of  Religion. 

A  Prayer  for  the  graces  of  Faith,  Hope,  Charity. 

O  Lord  God  of  infinite  mercy,  of  infinite  excellency,  who 
hast  sent  thy  holy  Son  into  tlie  world  to  redeem  us  from 
an  intolerable  misery,  and  to  teach  us  a  holy  religion,  and 
to  forgive  us  an  infinite  debt;  give  me  thy  Holy  Spirit,  that 
my  understanding  and  all  my  faculties  may  be  so  resigned 
to  the  discipline  and  doctrine  of  my  Lord,  that  I  may  be 
prepared  in  mind  and  will  to  die  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus, 
and  to  sutler  any  affliction  or  calamity,  that  shall  offer  to 
hinder  my  duty,  or  tempt  me  to  shame  or  sin  or  apostacy  : 
and  let  my  faith  be  the  parent  of  a  good  life,  a  strong  shield 
to  repel  the  fiery  darts  of  the  devil,  and  the  author  of  a 
holy  hope,  of  modest  desires,  of  confidence  in  God,  and  of 
a  never-failing  charity  to  thee  my  God,  and  to  all  the 
world  ;  that  I  may  never  have  my  portion  with  the  unbe- 
lievers, or  uncharitable  and  desperate  persons;  but  may 
be  supported  by  the  strengths  of  faith  in  all  temptations, 
and  may  be  refreshed  with  the  comforts  of  a  holy  hope  in 
all  my  sorrows,  and  may  bear  the  burden  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  infirmities  of  my  neighbour  by  the  support  of  charity  ; 
that  the  yoke  of  Jesus  may  become  easy  to  me,  and  my 
love  may  do  all  the  miracles  of  grace,  till  from  grace  it 
swell  to  glory,  from  earth  to  heaven,  from  duty  to  reward, 
from  the  imperfections  of  a  beginning  and  little  growing 
love,  it  may  arrive  to  the  consummation  of  an  eternal  and 
never-ceasiqg  charity,  through  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  thy 
love,  the  anchor  of  our  hope,  and  the  author  and  finisher 
of  our  ftiith :  to  whom,  with  thee,  O  Lord  God,  Father  of 
heaven  and  earth,  and  with  thy  Holy  Spirit,  be  all  glory, 
and  love,  and  obedience,  and  dominion,  now  and  for  ever. 
Amen. 

Acts  of  Love  by  loay  of  Prayer  and  Ejaculation  ;  to  he 
used  in  Private. 

O  God,  thou  art  my  God,  early  will  I  seek  thee :  my  soul 
thirsteth  for  thee,  my  flesh  longeth  for  thee  in  a  dry  and 
thirsty  land,  where  no  water  is;  to  see  thy  power  and  thy 
glory  so,  as  I  have  seen  thee  in  the  sanctuary.  Because  thy 
loving  kindness  is  better  than  life,  my  lips  shall  praise  thee. 
Psal.  Ixiii.  1,  *Sz;c, 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  051 

I  am  ready  not  only  to  be  bound,  but  to  die  for  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.     Acts  xxi.  13. 

How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles,  thou  Lord  of  Hosts  ! 
My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the 
Lord  ;  my  heart  and  my  flesh  crieth  out  for  the  living  God. 
Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in  thy  house  ;  they  will  still  be 
praising  thee.     Psal.  Ixxxiv.  1,2,  4. 

O  blessed  Jesu,  tiiou  art  worthy  of  all  adoration,  and  all 
honour,  and  all  love  :  thou  art  the  wonderful,  the  counsellor, 
the  mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  peace; 
of  thy  government  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end;  thou 
art  the  hrightness  of  thy  Father's  glory,  the  express  image 
of  his  person,  the  appointed  heir  of  all  things.  Thou  up- 
holdest  all  things  by  the  word  of  thy  power;  thou  didst  by 
thyself  purge  our  sins  :  thou  art  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high :  thou  art  made  better  than  the  angels ; 
thou  hast  by  inheritance  obtained  a  more  excellent  name 
than  they.  Thou,  O  dearest  Jesus,  art  the  head  of  the 
church,  the  beginning  and  the  first-born  from  the  dead  ;  in 
all  things  thou  hast  the  pre-eminence,  and  it  pleased  the 
Father,  that  in  thee  should  all  fulness  dwell.  Kingdoms 
are  in  love  with  thee  :  kings  lay  their  crowns  and  sceptres 
at  thy  feet,  and  queens  are  thy  handmaids,  and  wash  the 
feet  of  thy  servants. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  in  any  affliction,  as  death  of  Children,  of 
Husband  or  Wife,  in  great  Pove7'ty,  in  Imprisonment,  in  a 
sad  and  disconsolate  Spirit,  and  in  Temptations  to  Despair, 
O  eternal  God,  Father  of  mercies,  and  God  of  all  com- 
fort, with  much  mercy  look  upon  the  sadnesses  and  sor- 
rows of  thy  servant.  My  sins  lie  heavy  upon  me,  and  press 
me  sore,  and  there  is  no  health  in  my  bones  by  reason  of 
thy  displeasure  and  my  sin.  The  waters  are  gone  over  me, 
and  I  stick  fast  in  the  deep  mire,  and  my  miseries  are  vp^ith- 
out  comfort,  because  they  are  punishments  of  my  sin:  and 
I  am  so  evil  and  unworthy  a  person,  that  though  1  have 
great  desires,  yet  I  have  no  dispositions  or  worthiness  toward 
receiving  comfort.  My  sins  have  caused  my  sorrow,  and 
my  sorrow  does  not  cure  my  sins  :  and  unless  for  thy  own 
sake,  and  merely  because  thou  art  good,  thou  shalt  pity  me 
and  relieve  me,  I  am  as  much  without  remedy,  as  now  I  am 
without  comfort.  Lord,  pity  me  ;  Lord,  let  thy  grace  refresh 
my  spirit.     Let  thy  comforts  support  me,  thy  mercy  pardon 


252  PRAYERS  FOR 

me,  and  never  let  my  portion  be  amongst  hopeless  and  ac- 
cursed spirits  :  for  thou  art  good  and  gracious ;  and  I  throw 
myself  upon  thy  mercy.  Let  me  never  let  my  hold  go,  and 
do  thou  with  me  what  seems  good  in  thy  own  eyes.  lean- 
not  suffer  more  than  I  have  deserved  :  and  yet  I  can  need 
no  relief  so  great  as  thy  mercy  is  ;  for  thou  art  infinitely 
more  merciful  than  I  can  be  miserable;  and  thy  mercy, 
which  is  above  all  thy  own  works,  must  needs  be  far  above 
all  my  sin  and  all  my  misery.  Dearest  Jesus,  let  me  trust 
in  thee  for  ever,  and  let  me  never  be  confounded.     Amen. 

Ejaculations  and  short  Meditations  to  be  used  in  time  of 
Sickness  and  Sorrow :  or  danger  of  Death. 

Hear  my  prayer,  O  Lord,  and  let  my  cry  come  unto  thee.* 
Hide  not  thy  face  from  me  in  the  time  of  my  trouble,  incline 
thine  ear  unto  me,  when  I  call  :  O  hear  me  and  that  right 
soon.  For  my  days  are  consumed  like  smoke,  and  my  bones 
are  burnt  up,  as  it  were  a  fireband.  My  heart  is  smitten 
down  and  withered  like  grass,  so  that  I  forget  to  eat  my 
bread ;  and  that  because  of  thine  indignation  and  wrath : 
for  thou  hast  taken  me  up  and  cast  me  down  :  thine  arrows 
stick  fast  in  me,  and  thine  hand  presseth  me  sore.f  There 
is  no  health  in  my  flesh  because  of  thy  displeasure ;  nei- 
ther is  there  any  rest  in  my  bones  by  reason  of  my  sin.  My 
wickednesses  are  gone  over  my  head,  and  are  a  sore  burden 
too  heavy  for  me  to  bear.  But  I  will  confess  my  wickedness, 
and  be  sorry  for  my  sin.  O  Lord,  rebuke  me  not  in  thine 
indignation,  neither  chasten  me  in  thy  displeasure.:}:  Lord, 
be  merciful  unto  me,  heal  my  soul,  for  I  have  sinned  against 
thee.§ 

Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  after  thy  great  goodness, 
according  to  the  multitude  of  thy  mercies  do  away  mine 
offences.y  O  remember  not  the  sins  and  offences  of  my 
youth :  but  according  to  thy  mercy  think  thou  upon  me,  O 
Lord,  for  thy  goodness.H  'Vash  me  thoroughly  from  my 
wickedness  ;  and  cleanse  me  from  my  sin.  Make  me  a 
clean  heart,  O  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me.** 
Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  presence,  from  thy  all-hallow- 
ing and  life-giving  presence  :  and  take  not  thy  Holy  Spi- 
rit,  thy  sanctifying,  thy  guiding,  thy  comforting,  thy  sup- 
porting, and  confirming  Spirit  from  me. 

*  Psal.  cii.  2-4.  10.  t  Psal.  xxxviii.  2—4.  18.  t  Psal.  vi.  1.  $  Psal.  xli.  4. 
U  Psal.  li.  1 .  IT  Psal.  xxv.  6.  **  Peal.  li.  2. 10, 11. 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  253 

0  God  :  thou  art  my  God  for  ever  and  ever :  thou  shalt 
be  my  guide  unto  death.*  Lord,  comfort  me,  now  that  I 
lie  sick  upon  my  bed  :  make  tliou  my  bed  in  all  my  sick- 
ness.f  O  deliver  my  soul  from  the  place  of  hell :  and  do 
thou  receive  me.ij:  My  heart  is  disquieted  within  me,  and 
the  fear  of  death  is  fallen  upon  mc.§  Behold  thou  hast 
made  my  days  as  it  were  a  span  long,  and  my  age  is  even 
as  nothing  in  respect  of  thee  ;  and  verily  every  man  living 
is  altogether  vanity. ||  When  thou  with  rebukes  dost  chasten 
man  for  sin,  thou  makest  his  beauty  to  consume  away,  like 
a  moth  fretting  a  garment :  every  man  therefore  is  but  va- 
nity. And  now.  Lord,  what  is  my  hope  1  truly  my  hope  is 
even  in  thee.  Hear  my  prayer,  O  Lord,  and  with  thine  ears 
consider  my  calling  :  hold  not  thy  peace  at  my  tears.  Take 
this  plague  away  from  me  :  I  am  consumed  by  the  means 
of  thy  heavy  hand.  I  am  a  stranger  with  thee  and  a  so- 
journer, as  all  my  fathers  were.  O  spare  me  a  little,  that  I 
may  recover  my  strength,  before  I  go  hence  and  be  no  more 
seen.  My  soul  cleaveth  unto  the  dust ;  O  quicken  me  ac- 
cording to  thy  word.lT  And  when  the  snares  of  death  com- 
pass me  round  about,  let  not  the  pains  of  hell  take  hold 
upon  me.** 

An  Act  of  Faith  concerning  the  Resurrection  and  the  Day  of 
Judgment,  to  he  said  by  Side  Persons,  or  meditated. 

1  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand 
at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth  :  and  though  after  my  skin 
worms  destroy  this  body,  yet,  in  my  flesh,  shall  I  see  God : 
whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  behold, 
though  my  reins  be  consumed  within  me.    Job  xix.  25,  &;c. 

God  shall  come  and  shall  not  keep  silence  ;  there  shall  go 
before  him  a  consuming  fire,  and  a  mighty  tempest  shall 
be  stirred  up  round  about  him;  he  shall  call  the  heaven  from 
above,  and  the  earth,  that  he  may  judge  his  people. ff  O 
blessed  Jesu,  thou  art  my  judge,  and  thou  art  my  advocate; 
have  mercy  upon  me  in  the  hour  of  my  death,  and  in  the 
day  of  judgment.     See  Johii  v.  28,  and  Thess.  iv.  15. 

Short  Prayers  to  be  said  by  Sick  Persons, 
O  Holy  Jesus,   thou   art   a   merciful   high-priest,   and 

*  Psal.  xlviii.  13.        t  Psal.  xli.  3.         |  Psal  xlix.  15.         $  Psal.  Iv.  4. 
II  Psal.  xxxix.  6.        IT  Psal.  cxix  25.        **  Psal.  cxvi.  3.        tt  Psal.  i.  3,4. 
2A 


254  PRAYERS  FOR 

touched  with  the  sense  of  our  infirmities ;  thou  knowest 
the  sharpness  of  my  sickness  and  the  weakness  of  my  per- 
son. The  clouds  are  gathered  about  me,  and  thou  hast 
covered  me  with  thy  storm:  my  understanding  hath  not 
such  apprehension  of  things  as  formerly.  Lord,  let  thy 
mercy  support  me,  thy  Spirit  guide  me,  and  lead  me  through 
the  valley  of  this  death  safely  ;  that  I  may  pass  it  patiently, 
holily,  with  perfect  resignation  ;  and  let  me  rejoice  in  the 
Lord,  in  the  hopes  of  pardon,  in  the  expectation  of  glory, 
in  the  sense  of  thy  mercies,  in  the  refreshments  of  thy  Spi- 
rit, in  a  victory  over  all  temptations. 

Thou  hast  promised  to  be  with  us  in  tribulation.  Lord, 
my  soul  is  troubled,  and  my  body  is  weak,  and  my  hope  is 
in  thee,  and  my  enemies  are  busy  and  mighty:  now  make 
good  thy  holy  promise.  Now,  O  holy  Jesus,  now  let  thy 
hand  of  grace  be  upon  me  :  restrain  my  ghostly  enemies, 
and  give  me  all  sorts  of  spiritual  assistances.  Lord,  re- 
member thy  servant  in  the  day  when  thou  bindest  up  thy 
jewels. 

O  take  from  me  all  tediousness  of  spirit,  all  impatience 
and  unquietness :  let  me  possess  my  soul  in  patience,  and 
resign  my  soul  and  body  into  thy  hands,  as  into  the  hands 
of  a  faithful  Creator,  and  a  blessed  Redeemer. 

O  holy  Jesu,  thou  didst  die  for  us  ;  by  thy  sad,  pungent 
and  intolerable  pains,  which  thou  enduredst  for  me,  have 
pity  on  me,  and  ease  my  pain,  or  increase  my  patience. 
Lay  on  me  no  more  than  thou  shalt  enable  me  to  bear.  I 
have  deserved  it  all  and  more,  and  infinitely  more.  Lord, 
I  am  weak  and  ignorant,  timorous  and  inconstant,  and  I 
fear,  lest  something  should  happen  that  may  discompose 
the  state  of  my  soul,  that  may  displease  thee :  do  what 
thou  wilt  w^ith  me,  so  thou  dost  but  preserve  me  in  thy  fear 
and  favour.  Thou  knowest,  that  it  is  my  great  fear ;  but 
let  thy  Spirit  secure,  that  nothing  may  be  able  to  separate 
me  from  the  love  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ ;  then  smite  me 
here,  that  thou  mayest  spare  me  for  ever :  and  yet,  O 
Lord,  smite  me  friendly;  for  thou  knowest  my  infirmities. 
Lito  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit,  for  thou  hast  re- 
deemed me,  O  Lord,  thou  God  of  truth.  Come,  Holy 
Spirit,  help  me  in  this  conflict.  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly. 

Let  the  sick  man  often  meditate  upon  these  following  pro- 
mises and  gracious  words  of  God. 


Siv/JilRAL  OCCASIONS.  255 

My  help  coinetli  of  the  Lord,  who  prescrvetli  them  that 
are  true  ol'  heart.     Psal.  vii.  11. 

Anil  all  they  that  know  thy  name,  will  put  their  trust  in 
thee  ;  for  thou,  Lord,  hast  never  failed  them  that  seek  thee. 
Psal.  ix.  10. 

O  how  plentiful  is  thy  goodness,  which  thou  hast  laid  up 
for  them  that  fear  thee,  and  that  thou  hast  prepared  for 
them  that  put  their  trust  in  thee,  even  before  the  sons  of 
men  !  Psal.  xxxi.  21. 

Behold  the  eye  of  the  Lord  is  upon  them  that  fear  him, 
and  upon  them  that  put  their  trust  in  his  mercy,  to  deliver 
their  souls  from  death.     Psal.  xxxiii.  17. 

The  Lord  is  nigh  unto  them,  that  are  of  a  contrite  heart  ,• 
and  will  save  such  as  are  of  an  humble  spirit.  Psal.  xxxiv. 
18. 

Thou,  Lord,  shalt  save  both  man  and  beast :  how  excel- 
lent is  thy  mercy,  O  God !  and  the  children  of  men  shall 
put  their  trust  under  the  shadow  of  thy  wings.  Psai. 
xxxvi.  7. 

They  shall  be  satisfied  with  the  plenteousness  of  thy 
house  :  and  thou  shalt  give  them  to  drink  of  thy  pleasures, 
as  out  of  the  rivers,     ver.  8. 

For  with  thee  is  the  well  of  life  ;  and  in  thy  light  we 
shall  see  light,    ver.  9. 

Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord,  and  put  thy  trust  in  him, 
and  he  shall  bring  it  to  pass.     Psal.  xxxvii.  5. 

But  the  salvation  of  the  righteous  cometh  of  the  Lord  : 
who  is  also  their  strength  in  the  time  of  trouble,   ver.  40. 

So  that  a  man  shall  say.  Verily  there  is  a  reward  for  tho 
righteous  :  doubtless  there  is  a  God,  that  judgeth  the  earth. 
Psal.  Iviii.  10. 

Blessed  is  the  man,  whom  thou  choosest  and  receives! 
unto  thee  :  he  shall  dwell  in  thy  court,  and  shall  be  satis- 
fied with  the  pleasures  of  thy  house,  even  of  thy  holy  tem- 
ple.    Psal.  Ixv.  4. 

They  that  sow  in  tears,  shall  reap  in  joy.    Psal.  cxxvi.  6. 

It  is  written,  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee. 
Heb.  xiii.  5. 

The  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick  ;  and  the  Lord 
shall  raise  him  up  :  and  if  he  have  committed  sins,  they 
shall  be  forgiven  him.     Jam.  v.  15. 

Come    and    let   us   return  unto  the   Lord :  for  he  hath 


256  PRAYERS  FOR 

torn  and  he  will  heal  us :  he  hath  smitten,  and  he  will  bind 
us  up.     Hos.  vi.  1. 

If  we  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus 
Christ  the  righteous  ;  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins. 
1  John  ii.  1,  2. 

If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  righteous  to  for- 
give us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness. 
1  John  i.  9. 

He  that  forgives,  shall  be  forgiven.     Luke  vi.  37. 

And  this  is  the  confidence  that  we  have  in  him,  that  if 
we  ask  anv  thing  according  to  his  will,  he  heareth  us. 
1  John  V.  14. 

And  ye  know,  that  he  was  manifested  to  take  away  our 
sins.     1  John  iii.  5. 

If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  things  to  your 
children  ;  how  much  more  shall  your  Father,  which  is  in 
heaven,  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  him  ?  Matt.  vii. 
11. 

This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners. 
1  Tim.  i.  15. 

He  that  hath  given  us  his  Son,  how  should  not  he,  with 
him,  give  us  all  things  else  ?  Rom.  viii.  32. 

Acts  of  Hope,  to  be  used  by  Sick  Persons  after  a  pious  Life, 
I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  angels, 
nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things 
to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall 
be  able  to  separate  me  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.     Rom.  viii.  38,  39. 

I  have  fought  a  good  fight :  I  have  finished  my  course  :  I 
have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  righteous  judge 
shall  give  me  at  that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all 
them  also  that  love  his  appearing.     2  Tim.  iv.  7,  8. 

Blessed  be  God,  even  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Father  of  mercies  and  the  God  of  all  comforts,  who 
comforts  us  in  all  our  tribulation.     2  Cor.  i.  3,  4. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  in  behalf  of  a  sick  or  dying  Person. 
O  Lord  God,  there  is  no  number  of  thy  days  nor  of  thy 
mercies,  and  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  thy  servant  also  are 
multiplied.   Lord,  look  upon  him  with  much  mercy  and  pity, 


SEVERAL  OCCASIO.XR.  257 

forgive  him  all  his  sins,  comfort  his  sorrows,  case  his  pain, 
satisfy  liis  doubts,  relieve  his  fears,  instruct  his  ignorances, 
strengthen  his  understanding,  take  from  him  all  disorders 
of  spirit,  weakness,  and  abuse  of  fancy.  Jlestrain  tlie  ma- 
lice and  power  of  the  spirits  of  darkness;  and  suffer  him 
to  be  injiH-ed  neither  by  his  ghostly  enemies,  nor  his  own 
infirmities  ;  and  let  a  holy  and  a  just  peace,  the  peace  of 
Cod,  be  witiiin  his  conscience. 

Lord,  preserve  his  senses  till  the  last  of  his  time, 
strengthen  his  faith,  confirm  his  hope,  and  give  him  a  never- 
ceasing  cliarity  to  thee  our  God,  and  to  all  the  world  :  stir 
up  in  him  a  great  and  proportionable  contrition  for  all  the 
evils  ho  hath  done,  and  give  him  a  just  measure  of  patience 
for  all  he  suffers :  give  him  prudence,  memory,  and  con- 
sideration, rightly  to  state  the  accounts  of  his  soul ;  and 
do  thou  remind  him  of  all  his  duty ;  that  when  it  shall 
please  thee,  that  his  soul  goes  out  from  the  prison  of  his 
body,  it  may  be  received  by  angels,  and  preserved  from  the 
surprise  of  evil  spirits,  and  from  the  horrors  and  amaze- 
ments of  new  and  strange  regions,  and  be  laid  up  in  the 
bosom  of  our  Lord,  till,  at  the  day  of  thy  second  coming, 
it  shall  be  reunited  to  the  body,  which  is  now  to  be  laid 
down  in  weakness  and  dishonour,  but  we  humbly  beg, 
may  then  be  raised  up  with  glory  and  power,  for  ever  to  live 
and  to  behold  the  face  of  God  in  the  glories  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  who  is  our  hope,  our  resurrection,  and  our  life,  the 
light  of  our  eyes  and  the  joy  of  our  souls,  our  blessed  and 
ever-glorious  Redeemer.     Amen. 

Hither  the  sick  person  may  draw  in,  and  use  the  acts  of 
several  virtues  respersed  in  the  several  parts  of  this 
book,  the  several  litanies,  viz.  of  repentance,  of  the  pas- 
sion, and  the  single  prayers,  according  to  his  present 
needs. 

A  Prayer  to  he  said  in  a  Storm  at  Sea. 
O  my  God,  thou  didst  create  the  earth  and  the  sea  for  thy 
glory  and  the  use  of  man,  and  dost  daily  show  wonders  in 
the  deep :  look  upon  the  danger  and  fear  of  thy  servant. 
My  sins  have  taken  hold  upon  me,  and  without  the  support- 
ing arm  of  thy  mercy,  I  cannot  look  up ;  but  my  trust  is  in 
thee.  Do  thou,  O  Lord,  rebuke  the  sea,  and  make  it  calm; 
for  to  thee  the  winds  and  the  sea  obey  :  let  not  the  waters 
swallow  me  up,  but  let  thy  Spirit,  the  spirit  of  gentleness 
2a2 


258  PRAYERS  FOR 

and  mercy,  move  upon  the  waters.  Be  thou  reconciled  unto 
thy  servants,  and  then  the  face  of  the  waters  will  be  smooth. 
I  fear  that  my  sins  make  me,  like  Jonas,  the  cause  of  the 
tempest.  Cast  out  all  my  sins,  and  throw  not  thy  servants 
away  from  thy  presence,  and  from  the  land  of  the  living, 
into  the  depths,  where  all  things  are  forgotten.  But  if  it 
be  thy  will,  that  w^e  shall  go  down  into  the  waters.  Lord, 
receive  my  soul  into  thy  holy  hands,  and  preserve  it  in 
mercy  and  safety  till  the  day  of  restitution  of  all  things  :  and 
be  pleased  to  unite  my  death  to  the  death  of  thy  Son,  and 
to  accept  of  it,  so  united,  as  a  punishment  for  all  my  sins, 
that  thou  mayest  forget  all  thine  anger,  and  blot  my  sins 
out  of  thy  book,  and  write  my  soul  there,  for  Jesus  Christ 
his  sake,  our  dearest  Lord  and  most  mighty  Redeemer. 
Amen. 

Then  make  an  Act  of  Resignation,  thus : 
To  God  pertain  the  issues  of  life  and  death.     It  is  the 

Lord,  let  him  do  what  seemeth  good  in  his  own  eyes.    "  Thy 

will  be  done  on  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven." 
Recite  Psalm  cvii.  and  cxxx. 

A  Form  of  a  Vow  to  he  made  in  this  or  the  like  Danger. 

If  the  Lord  will  be  gracious  and  hear  the  prayer  of  his 
servant,  and  bring  me  safe  to  shore,  then  I  will  praise  him 
secretly  and  publicly,  and  pay  unto  the  uses  of  charity 
[or  religion]  [then  name  the  sum  you  design  for  holy  uses.] 
O  my  God,  my  goods  are  nothing  unto  thee  :  I  will  also  be 
thy  servant  all  the  days  of  my  Hfe,  and  remember  this  mercy 
and  my  present  purposes,  and  live  more  to  God's  glory,  and 
with  a  stricter  duty.  And  do  thou  please  to  accept  this 
vow  as  an  instance  of  my  importunity,  and  the  greatness  of 
my  needs  :  and  be  thou  graciously  moved  to  pity  and  deli- 
ver me.  Amen. 
This  form  also  may  be  used  in  praying  for  a  blessing  on  an 

enterprise,  and  may  be  instanced  in  actions  of  devotion 

as  well  as  of  charity. 

A  Prayer  before  a  Journey 

O  almighty  God,  who  fillest  all  things  with  thy  presence, 

and  art  a  God  afar  off  as  well  as  near  at  hand  ;  thou  didst 

send  thy  angel  to  bless  Jacob  in  his  journey,  and  didst  lead 

the  children  of  Israel  through  the  Red  Sea,  making  it  a 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  259 

wall  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left :  be  pleased  to  let 
thy  angel  go  out  before  me  and  guide  me  in  my  journey, 
preserving  me  from  dangers  of  robbers,  from  violence  of 
enemies,  and  sudden  and  sad  accidents,  from  falls  and  er- 
rors. And  prosper  my  journey  to  thy  glory,  and  to  all 
my  innocent  purposes  :  and  preserve  me  from  all  sin, 
that  I  may  return  in  peace  and  holiness,  with  thy  favour 
and  thy  blessing,  and  may  serve  thee  in  thankfulness  and 
obedience  all  the  days  of  my  pilgrimage  ;  and  at  last 
bring  me  to  thy  country,  to  the  celestial  Jerusalem,  there  to 
dwell  in  thy  house,  and  to  sing  praises  to  thee  for  ever. 
Amen. 

Ad  Sect.  4.]      A  Prayer  to  be  said  before  the  hearing  or 
reading  the  Word  of  God. 

0  holy  and  eternal  Jesus,  who  hast  begotten  us  by  thy 
word,  renewed  us  by  thy  Spirit,  fed  us  by  thy  sacraments, 
and  by  the  daily  ministry  of  thy  word,  still  go  on  to  build 
us  up  to  life  eternal.  Let  thy  most  Holy  Spirit  be  pre- 
sent with  me  and  rest  upon  me  in  the  reading,  or  hearing, 
thy  sacred  word ;  that  I  may  do  it  humbly,  reverently, 
without  prejudice,  with  a  mind  ready  and  desirous  to  learn 
and  to  obey  ;  that  I  may  be  readily  furnished  and  instruct- 
ed to  every  good  work,  and  may  practise  all  thy  holy  laws 
and  commandments,  to  the  glory  of  thy  holy  name,  O  holy 
and  eternal  Jesus.     Amen. 

Ad  Sect.  5,  9,  10.]  A  Form  of  Confession  of  Sins  and  Re- 
pentance^ to  be  used  upon  Fasting  Days,  or  Days  of  Hu- 
miliation ;  especially  in  Lent,  and  before  the  Holy  Sa- 
crament. 

"  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  after  thy  great  goodness  ; 
according  to  the  multitude  of  thy  mercies  do  away  mine 
offences.  For  I  will  confess  my  wickedness,  and  be  sorry 
for  my  sin."  O  my  dearest  Lord,  I  am  not  worthy  to  be 
accounted  amongst  the  meanest  of  thy  servants  ;  not  worthy 
to  be  sustained  by  the  least  fragments  of  thy  mercy,  but 
to  be  shut  out  of  thy  presence  for  ever  with  dogs  and  un- 
believers. "  But  for  thy  name's  sake,  O  Lord,  be  merciful 
unto  my  sin,  for  it  is  great." 

1  am  the  vilest  of  sinners,  and  the  worst  of  men  :  proud 
and  vain-glorious,  impatient  of  scorn  or  of  just  reproof;  not 


260  PRAYERS  FOR 

enduring  to  be  slighted,  and  yet  extremely  deserving  it :  I 
have  been  cozened  by  the  colours  of  humility,  and  when 
I  have  truly  called  myself  vicious,  I  could  not  endure 
any  man  else  should  say  or  think  so.  I  have  been  dis- 
obedient to  my  superiors,  churlish  and  ungentle  in  my 
behaviour,  unchristian  and  unmanly.  "  But  for  thy  name's 
sake,"  &c. 

O  just  and  dear  God,  how  can  I  expect  pity  or  pardon, 
who  am  so  angry  and  peevish,  with  and  without  cause, 
envious  at  good,  rejoicing  at  the  evil  of  my  neighbours, 
negligent  of  my  charge,  idle  and  useless,  timorous  and 
base,  jealous  and  impudent,  ambitious  and  hard-hearted, 
soft,  unmortified,  and  effeminate  in  my  life,  undevoutin  my 
prayers,  without  fancy  or  affection,  without  attendance  to 
them  or  perseverance  in  them  :  but  passionate  and  curious 
in  pleasing  my  appetite  of  meat  and  drink  and  pleasures, 
making  matter  both  for  sin  and  sickness  ;  and  I  have  reaped 
the  cursed  fruits  of  such  improvidence,  entertaining  inde- 
cent and  impure  thoughts  ;  and  I  have  brought  them  forth 
in  indecent  and  impure  actions,  and  the  spirit  of  unclean- 
ness  hath  entered  in,  and  unhallowed  the  temple,  which 
thou  didst  consecrate  for  'i>  h^^it-^tion  of  thy  Spirit  of 
love  and  holiness.  But  for  thy  name's  sake,  O  Lord,  be 
merciful  unto  my  sin,  for  it  is  great. 

Thou  hast  given  me  a  whole  life  to  serve  thee  in,  and  to 
advance  my  hopes  of  heaven  :  and  this  precious  time  I 
have  thrown  away  upon  my  sins  and  vanities,  being  impro- 
vident of  my  time  and  of  my  talent,  and  of  thy  grace  and 
my  own  advantages,  resisting  thy  Spirit  and  quenching 
him.  I  have  been  a  great  lover  of  myself,  and  yet  used 
many  ways  to  destroy  myself.  I  have  pursued  my  tempo- 
ral ends  with  greediness  and  indirect  means.  I  am  revenge- 
ful and  unthankful,  forgetting  benefits,  but  not  so  soon  for- 
getting injuries  ;  curious  and  murmuring,  a  great  breaker 
of  promises.  I  have  not  loved  my  neighbour's  good,  nor 
advanced  it  in  all  things,  where  I  could.  I  have  been  un- 
like thee  in  all  things.  I  am  unmerciful  and  unjust;  a 
sottish  admirer  of  things  below,  and  careless  of  heaven  and 
the  ways  that  lead  thither. 

But  for  thy  name's  sake,  O  Lord,  be  merciful  unto  my 
sin,  for  it  is  great. 

All  my  senses  have  been  windows  to  let  sin  in,  and  death 
by  sin.     Mine  eyes  have  been  adulterous  and  covetous  ; 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  261 

mine  ears  open  to  slander  and  detraction  ;  my  tongue  and 
palate  loose  and  wanton,  intemperate,  and  of  foul  language, 
talkative  and  lying,  rash  and  malicious,  false  and  flattering, 
irreligious  and  irreverent,  detracting  and  censorious  ;  my 
hands  have  been  injurious  and  unclean,  my  passions  violent 
and  rebellious,  my  desires  impatient  and  unreasonable  :  all 
my  members  and  all  my  faculties  have  been  servants  of 
sin  ;  and  my  very  best  actions  have  more  matter  of  pity 
than  of  confidence,  being  imperfect  in  my  best,  and  intole- 
rable in  most.     But  for  thy  name's  sake,  O  Lord,  dsc. 

Unto  this  and  a  far  bigger  heap  of  sin  I  have  added  also 
the  faults  of  others  to  my  own  score,  by  neglecting  to  hin- 
der them  to  sin  in  all  that  I  could,  and  ought  ;  but  I  also 
have  encouraged  them  in  sin,  have  taken  off  their  fears,  and 
hardened  their  consciences,  and  tempted  them  directly,  and 
prevailed  in  it  to  my  own  ruin  and  theirs,  unless  thy  glori- 
ous and  unspeakable  mercy  hath  prevented  so  intolerable  a 
calamity. 

Lord,  I  have  abused  thy  mercy,  despised  thy  judgments, 
turned  thy  grace  into  wantonness.  I  have  been  unthank- 
ful for  thy  infinite  loving  kindness.  I  have  sinned  and  re- 
pented, and  then  sinned  again,  and  resolved  against  it,  and 
presently  broke  it ;  and  then  I  tied  myself  up  with  vows, 
and  then  was  tempted,  and  then  I  yielded  by  little  and  little, 
till  I  was  willingly  lost  again,  and  my  vows  fell  off  like 
cords  of  vanity. 

Miserable  man  that  I  am!  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
this  body  of  sin  ? 

And  yet,  O  Lord,  I  have  another  heap  of  sins  to  be  un- 
loaded. My  secret  sins,  O  Lord,  are  innumerable,  sins  I 
noted  not ;  sins  that  I  willingly  neglected ;  sins  that  I 
acted  upon  wilful  ignorance  and  voluntary  mispersuasion  ; 
sins  that  I  have  forgot ;  and  sins  which  a  diligent  and 
a  watchful  spirit  might  have  prevented,  but  I  would 
not.  Lord,  I  am  confounded  with  the  multitude  of  them, 
and  the  horror  of  their  remembrance,  though  I  consider 
them  nakedly  in  their  direct  appearance,  without  the 
deformity  of  their  unhandsome  and  aggravating  circum- 
stances :  but  so  dressed  they  are  a  sight  too  ugly,  an  in- 
stance of  amazement,  infinite  in  degrees,  and  insufferable 
in  their  load. 

And  yet  thou  hast  spared  me  all  this  while,  and  hast  not 


262  PRAYERS  FOR 

thrown  me  into  hell,  where  I  have  deserved  to  have  been 
long  since,  and  even  now  to  have  been  shut  up  to  an  eternity 
of  torments  with  insupportable  amazement,  fearing  the  re- 
velation of  thy  day. 

Miserable  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  from  this 
body  of  sin  ? 

Thou  shalt  answer  for  me,  O  Lord  my  God.  Thou,  that 
prayest  for  me,  shalt  be  my  judge. 

The  Prayer. 
Thou  hast  prepared  for  me  a  more  healthful  sorrow :  O 
deny  not  thy  servant,  when  he  begs  sorrow  of  thee.  Give 
me  a  deep  contrition  for  my  sins,  a  hearty  detestation  and 
loathing  of  them,  hating  them  worse  than  death  with  tor- 
ments. Give  me  grace  entirely,  presently,  and  for  ever,  to 
forsake  them ;  to  walk  with  care  and  prudence,  with  fear 
and  watchfulness  all  my  days ;  to  do  all  my  duty  with  dili- 
gence and  charity,  with  zeal  and  a  never-fainting  spirit ;  to 
redeem  the  time,  to  trust  upon  thy  mercies,  to  make  use 
of  all  the  instruments  of  grace,  to  work  out  my  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling  ;  that  thou  mayest  have  the  glory 
of  pardoning  all  my  sins,  and  I  may  reap  the  fruit  of  all 
thy  mercies  and  all  thy  graces,  of  thy  patience  and  long- 
suffering,  even  to  live  a  holy  life  here,  and  to  reign  with 
thee  for  ever,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord.  Amen. 
Ad  Sect.  6.]  Special  devotions  to  be  used  upon  the  Lord's- 

day,  and  the  great  festivals  of  Christians. 
In  the  morning,  recite  the  following  form  of  thanksgiving; 
upon  the  special  festivals  adding  the  commemoration  of 
the  special  blessings  according  to  the  following  prayers: 
adding  such  prayers  as  you  shall  choose  out  of  the  fore- 
going devotions. 
2.  Besides  the  ordinary  and  public  duties  of  the  day,  if  you 
retire  into  your  closet  to  read  and  meditate,  after  you 
have  performed  that  duty,  say  the  Song  of  Saint  Am- 
brose, (commonly  called  the  Te  Deum,)  or.  We  praise 
thee,  &;c. ;  then  add  the  prayers  for  particular  graces, 
which  are  at  the  end  of  the  former  chapters,  such  and 
as  many  of  them  as  shall  fit  your  present  needs  and  af- 
fections ;  ending  with  the  Lord's  Prayer.  This  form  of 
devotion  may,  for  variety,  be  indifferently  used  at  other 
times. 


SFA'RRAL  OCCASIONS.  263 

A  form  of  thanksgiving,  with  a  recital  of  public  and  private 
blessings ;  to  be  used  upon  Easter-day,  Whitsunday, 
Ascension-day,  and  all  Sundays  of  the  year :  but  the 
middle  part  of  it  may  be  reserved  for  the  more  solemn 
festivals,  and  the  other  used  upon  the  ordinary  ;  as  every 
man's  affections  or  leisure  shall  determine. 

[1.]  Ex  Liturgia  S.  Basilii  magna  ex  parte. 

O  eternal  essence.  Lord  God,  Father  Almighty,  maker 
of  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth  ;  it  is  a  good  thing  to 
give  thanks  to  thee,  O  Lord,  and  to  pay  to  thee  all  reverence, 
worship,  and  devotion,  from  a  clean  and  prepared  heart, 
and  with  an  humble  spirit  to  present  a  living  and  reason- 
able sacrifice  to  thy  holiness  and  majesty  :  for  thou  hast 
given  unto  us  the  knowledge  of  thy  truth  ;  and  who  is  able 
to  declare  thy  greatness,  and  to  recount  all  thy  marvellous 
works,  which  thou  hast  done  in  all  the  generations  of  the 
world  ? 

O  great  Lord  and  Governor  of  all  things,  lord  and  cre- 
ator of  all  things  visible  and  invisible,  who  sittest  upon  the 
throne  of  thy  glory,  and  beholdest  the  secrets  of  the  lowest 
abyss  and  darkness,  thou  art  without  beginning,  uncircum- 
scribed,  incomprehensible,  unalterable,  andl^seated  for  ever 
unmoveable  in  thy  own  essential  happiness  and  tranquillity  : 
thou  art  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  is. 

Our  dearest  and  most  gracious  Saviour,  our  hope,  the 
wisdom  of  the  Father,  the  image  of  thy  goodness,  the  word 
eternal,  and  the  brightness  of  thy  person,  the  power  of  God 
from  eternal  ages,  the  true  light,  that  lighteneth  every  man 
that  Cometh  into  the  world,  the  redemption  of  man,  and  the 
sanctification  of  our  spirits. 

By  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  the  church  : 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  truth,  the  seal  of  adoption,  the  earnest 
of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints,  the  first-fruits  of  everlast- 
ing felicity,  the  life-giving  power,  the  fountain  of  sanctifi- 
cation, the  comfort  of  the  church,  the  ease  of  the  afflicted, 
the  support  of  the  weak,  the  wealth  of  the  poor,  the 
teacher  of  the  doubtful,  scrupulous,  and  ignorant ;  the  an- 
chor of  the  fearful,  the  infinite  reward  of  all  faithful  souls; 
by  whom  all  reasonable  and  understanding  creatures  serve 
thee,  and  send  up  a  never-ceasing  and  a  never-rejected  sa- 
crifice of  prayer  and  praises  and  adoration. 

All  angels  and  archangels,  all  thrones  and  dominions. 


264  PRAYERS  FOR 

all  principalities  and  powers,  the  cherubims  with  many  eyes, 
and  the  seraphims  covered  with  wings  from  the  terror  and 
amazement  of  thy  brightest  glory  :  these,  and  all  the  pow- 
ers of  heaven,  do  perpetually  sing  praises  and  never-ceasing 
hymns  and  eternal  anthems  to  the  glory  of  the  eternal  God, 
the  almighty  Father  of  men  and  angels. 

Holy  is  our  God  ;  holy  is  the  Almighty :  holy  is  the  Im- 
mortal :  holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth,  heaven  and 
earth  are  full  of  the  majesty  of  thy  glory.  Amen.  With 
these  holy  and  blessed  spirits  I  also,  thy  servant,  O  thou 
great  lover  of  souls,  though  I  be  unworthy  to  offer  praise  to 
such  a  majesty  ;  yet,  out  of  my  bounden  duty,  humbly  offer 
up  my  heart  and  voice  to  join  in  this  blessed  choir,  and 
confess  the  glories  of  the  Lord.  For  thou  art  holy,  and  of 
thy  greatness  there  is  no  end ;  and  in  thy  justice  and  good- 
ness thou  hast  measured  out  to  us  all  thy  works. 

Thou  madest  man  out  of  the  earth,  and  didst  form  him 
after  thine  own  image :  thou  didst  place  him  in  a  garden 
of  pleasure,  and  gavest  him  laws  of  righteousness,  to  be  to 
him  a  seed  of  immortality. 

"O  that  men  would  therefore  praise  the  Lord  for  his 
goodness,  and  declare  the  wonders  that  he  hath  done  for 
the  children  of  men." 

For  when  man  sinned  and  listened  to  the  whispers  of  a 
tempting  spirit,  and  refused  to  hear  the  voice  of  God,  thou 
didst  throw  him  out  from  Paradise,  and  sentest  him  to  till 
the  earth  ;  but  yet  leftest  not  his  condition  without  remedy, 
but  didst  provide  for  him  the  salvation  of  a  new  birth,  and, 
by  the  blood  of  thy  Son,  didst  redeem  and  pay  the  price  to 
thine  own  justice  for  thine  own  creature,  lest  the  work  of 
thine  own  hands  should  perish. 

"  O  that  men  would  therefore  praise  the  Lord,"  dec. 

For  thou,  O  Lord,  in  every  age  didst  send  testimonies 
from  heaven,  blessings,  and  prophets,  and  fruitful  seasons, 
and  preachers  of  righteousness,  and  miracles  of  power  and 
mercy  :  thou  spakest  by  thy  prophets,  and  saidst,  "  I  will 
help  by  one  that  is  mighty  ;"  and,  in  the  fulness  of  time, 
spakest  to  us  by  thy  Son,  by  whom  thou  didst  make  both 
the  worlds,  who,  by  the  word  of  his  power,  sustains  all 
things  in  heaven  and  earth ;  who  thought  it  no  robbery  to 
be  equal  to  the  Father ;  who,  being  before  all  time,  was 
pleased  to  be  born  in  time,  to  converse  with  men,  to  be  in- 
carnate of  a  holy  Virgin  :  he  emptied  himself  of  all  his 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  265 

glories,  took  on  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  in  all  things  be- 
ing made  like  unto  us,  in  a  soul  of  passions  and  discourse, 
in  a  body  of  humility  and  sorrow,  but  in  all  things  innocent, 
and  in  all  things  afflicted  ;  and  suffered  death  for  us,  that  we 
by  him  might  live,  and  be  partakers  of  his  nature  and  his 
glories,  of  his  body  and  of  his  Spirit,  of  the  blessings  of 
earth,  and  of  immortal  felicities  in  heaven. 

"  O  that  men  would  therefore  praise  the  Lord,"  &;c. 

For  thou,  O  holy  and  immortal  God,  O  sweetest  Saviour 
Jesus,  wert  made  under  the  law  to  condemn  sin  in  the 
flesh  :  thou  who  knewest  no  sin,  wert  made  sin  for  us  ; 
thou  gavest  to  us  righteous  commandments,  and  madest 
known  to  us  all  thy  Father's  will  :  thou  didst  redeem  us 
from  our  vain  conversation,  and  from  the  vanity  of  idols, 
false  principles,  and  foolish  confidences,  and  broughtest  us 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  and  only  God  and  our  Father, 
and  hast  made  us  to  thyself  a  peculiar  people,  of  thy  own 
purchase,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation  :  thou  hast 
washed  our  souls  in  the  laver  of  regeneration,  the  sacra- 
ment of  baptism  ;  thou  hast  reconciled  us  by  thy  death, 
justified  us  by  thy  resurrection,  sanctified  us  by  thy  Spirit, 
sending  him  upon  thy  church  in  visible  forms,  and  giving 
him  in  powers,  and  miracles,  and  mighty  signs,  and  con- 
tinuing this  incomparable  favour  in  gifts  and  sanctifying 
graces,  and  promising  that  he  shall  abide  with  us  for  ever  : 
thou  hast  fed  us  with  thine  own  broken  body,  and  given 
drink  to  our  souls  out  of  thine  own  heart,  and  hast  ascend- 
ed up  on  high,  and  hast  overcome  all  the  powers  of  death 
and  hell,  and  redeemed  us  from  the  miseries  of  a  sad  eter- 
nity ;  and  sittest  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  making  interces- 
sion for  us  with  a  never-ceasing  charity. 

"  O  that  men  would  therefore  praise  the  Lord,"  &;c. 

The  grave  could  not  hold  thee  long,  O  holy  and  eternal 
Jesus ;  thy  body  could  not  see  corruption,  neither  could 
thy  soul  be  left  in  hell :  thou  wert  free  among  the  dead, 
and  thou  brakest  the  iron  gates  of  death,  and  the  bars  and 
chains  of  the  lower  prisons.  Thou  broughtest  comfort  to 
the  souls  of  the  patriarchs,  who  waited  for  thy  coming, 
who  Longed  for  the  redemption  of  man,  and  the  revelation 
of  thy  day.  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  saw  thy  day,  and 
rejoiced  :  and  when  thou  didst  arise  from  thy  bed  of  dark- 
ness, and  leftest  the  grave-clothes  behind  thee,  and  didst 
put  on  a  robe  of  glory  (over  which  for  forty  days  thou  didst 
2B 


2QQ  PRAYERS  FOR 

wear  a  veil,)  and  then  enteredst  into  a  cloud,  and  then  into 
glory,  then  the  powers  of  hell  were  confounded,  then  death 
lost  its  power  and  was  swallowed  up  into  victory ;  and 
though  death  is  not  quite  destroyed,  yet  it  is  made  harm- 
less and  v.'ithout  a  sting,  and  the  condition  of  human  na- 
ture is  made  an  entrance  to  eternal  glory  ;  thou  art  become 
the  prince  of  life,  the  first-fruits  of  the  resurrection,  the 
first-born  from  the  dead,  having  made  the  way  plain  before 
our  faces,  that  we  may  also  arise  again  in  the  resurrection 
of  the  last  day,  when  thou  shalt  come  again  unto  us,  to 
render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works. 

"  O  that  men  would  therefore  praise  the  Lord,"  &;c. 

O  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord ;  for  he  is  gracious,  and  his 
mercy  endureth  for  ever. 

O  all  ye  angels  of  the  Lord,  praise  ye  the  Lord ;  praise 
him  and  magnify  him  for  ever. 

O  ye  spirits  and  souls  of  the  righteous,  praise  ye  the 
Lord  ;  praise  him  and  magnify  him  for  ever." 

And  now,  O  Lord  God,  what  shall  I  render  to  thy  Divine 
Majesty,  for  all  the  benefits  thou  hast  done  unto  thy  servant 
in  my  personal  capacity  ? 

Thou  art  my  creator  and  my  father,  my  protector  and 
my  guardian  ;  thou  hast  brought  me  from  my  mother's 
womb  ;  thou  hast  told  all  my  joints,  and  in  thy  book  were 
all  my  members  written  ;  thou  hast  given  me  a  comely 
body,  Christian  and  careful  parents,  holy  education ;  thou 
hast  been  my  guide  and  my  teacher  all  my  days ;  thou  hast 
given  me  ready  faculties,  an  unloosed  tongue,  a  cheerful 
spirit,  straight  limbs,  a  good  reputation,  and  liberty  of  per- 
son, a  quiet  life,  and  a  tender  conscience,  [a  loving  wife  or 
husband,  and  hopeful  children.]  Thou  wert  my  hope  from 
my  youth ;  through  thee  have  I  been  holden  up,  ever  since 
I  was  born.  Thou  hast  clothed  me  and  fed  me,  given  me 
friends  and  blessed  them :  given  me  many  days  of  com- 
fort and  health,  free  from  those  sad  infirmities,  with  which 
many  of  thy  saints  and  dearest  servants  are  atHicted.  Thou 
hast  sent  thy  angel  to  snatch  me  from  the  violence  of  fire 
and  water,  to  prevent  precipices,  fracture  of  bones,  to  res- 
cue me  from  thunder  and  lightning,  plague  and  pesti- 
lential diseases,  murder  and  robbery,  violence  of  chance 
and  enemies,  and  all  the  spirits  of  darkness ;  and  in  the 
days  of  sorrow  thou  hast  refreshed  me  ;  in  the  destitu- 
tion of  provisions  thou  hast  taken  care  of  me,  and  thou 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  267 

hast  said  unto  me,  "  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake 
thee." 

"  I  will  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord  with  my  whole  heart, 
secretly  among  tlic  faithful,  and  in  the  congregation." 

"  Thou,  O  my  dearest  Lord  and  Father,  hast  taken  care 
of  my  soul,  hast  pitied  my  miseries,  sustained  my  infirmi- 
ties relieved  and  instructed  my  ignorances  :  and  though  I 
have  broken  thy  righteous  laws  and  commandments,  run 
passionately  after  vanities,  and  was  in  love  with  death,  and 
was  dead  in  sin,  and  was  exposed  to  thousands  of  tempta- 
tions, and  fell  foully,  and  continued  in  it,  and  loved  to  have 
it  so,  and  hated  to  be  reformed  ;  yet  thou  didst  call  me  with 
the  checks  of  conscience,  with  daily  sermons  and  precepts 
of  holiness,  with  fear  and  shame,  with  benefits  and  the  ad- 
monitions of  thy  most  Holy  Spirit,  by  the  counsel  of  my 
friends,  by  the  example  of  good  persons,  with  holy  books 
and  thousands  of  excellent  arts,  and  wouldst  not  suffer  me 
to  perish  in  my  folly,  but  didst  force  me  to  attend  to  thy 
gi'acious  calling,  and  hast  put  me  into  a  state  of  repentance, 
and  possibilities  of  pardon,  being  infinitely  desirous  I  should 
live,  and  recover,  and  make  use  of  thy  grace,  and  partake 
of  thy  glories. 

"  I  will  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord  with  my  whole  heart, 
secretly  among  the  faithful,  and  in  the  congregation.  For 
salvation  belongeth  unto  the  Lord,  and  thy  blessing  is  upon 
thy  servant.  But  as  for  me,  I  will  come  into  thy  house  in 
the  multitude  of  thy  mercies,  and  in  thy  fear  will  I  worship 
toward  thy  holy  temple.  For  of  thee,  and  in  thee,  and 
through  and  for  thee,  are  all  things.  Blessed  be  the  name 
of  God,  from  generation  to  generation."     Amen. 

A  short  Form  of  Thanksgivings  to  he  said  upon  any 
special  Deliverance^  as  from  Childbirth^  from  sickness, 
from  Battle,  or  imminent  Danger  at  sea  or  Land,  <Sfc. 

O  most  merciful  and  gracious  God,  thou  fountain  of  all 
mercy  and  blessing,  thou  hast  opened  the  hand  of  thy 
mercy  to  fill  me  with  blessings,  and  the  sweet  effects  of  thy 
loving  kindness:  thou  feedest  us  like  a  shepherd,  thou 
governest  us  as  a  king,  thou  bearest  us  in  thy  arms  like  a 
nurse,  thou  dost  cover  us  under  the  shadow  of  thy  wings, 
and  shelter  us  like  a  hen  :  thou  (O  dearest  Lord)  wakest 
for  us  as  a  watchman,  thou  providest  for  us  like  a  husband, 
thou  lovest  us  as  a  friend,  and  thinkest  on  us  perpetually, 


268 


PRAYERS  FOR 


as  a  careful  mother  on  her  helpless  babe,  and  art  exceed- 
ing merciful  to  all  that  fear  thee.  And  now,  O  Lord  thou 
hast  added  this  great  blessing  of  deliverance  from  my  late 
danger  [here  name  the  blessing  /]  it  was  thy  hand  and  the 
help  of  thy  mercy  that  relieved  me  ;  the  waters  of  affliction 
had  drowned  me,  and  the  stream  had  gone  over  my  soul, 
if  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  had  not  moved  upon  these  waters. 
Thou,  O  Lord,  didst  revoke  thy  angry  sentence,  which  I 
had  deserved,  and  which  was  gone  out  against  me.  Unto 
thee,  O  Lord,  I  ascribe  the  praise  and  honour  of  my  re- 
demption. I  will  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  thy  mercy,  for 
thou  hast  considered  my  trouble,  and  hast  known  my  soul 
in  adversity.  As  thou  hast  spread  thy  hand  upon  me  for 
a  covering,  so  also  enlarge  my  heart  with  thankfulness, 
and  fill  my  mouth  with  praises,  that  my  duty  and  returns 
to  thee  may  be  great  as  my  needs  of  mercy  are  ;  and  let 
thy  gracious  favours  and  loving  kindness  endure  for  ever 
and  ever  upon  thy  servant ;  and  grant  that  what  thou  hast 
sown  in  mercy  may  spring  up  in  duty  ;  and  let  thy  grace 
so  strengthen  my  purposes,  that  I  may  sin  no  more,  lest 
thy  threatening  return  upon  me  in  anger,  and  thy  anger 
break  me  into  pieces ;  but  let  me  walk  in  the  light  of  thy 
favour,  and  in  the  paths  of  thy  commandments;  that  I, 
living  here  to  the  glory  of  thy  name,  may  at  last  enter  into 
the  glory  of  my  Lord,  to  spend  a  whole  eternity  in  giving 
praise  to  thy  exalted  and  ever-glorious  name.     Amen. 

"  We  praise  thee,  O  God,  we  acknowledge  thee  to  be 
the  Lord.  All  the  earth  doth  worship  thee,  the  Father 
everlasting.  To  thee  all  angels  cry  aloud,  the  heavens  and 
all  the  powers  therein.  To  thee  cherubim  and  seraphim 
continually  do  cry,  Holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth  ; 
heaven  and  earth  are  full  of  the  majesty  of  thy  glory.  The 
glorious  company  of  the  apostles  praise  thee.  The  goodly 
fellowship  of  the  prophets  praise  thee.  The  noble  army 
of  martyrs  praise  thee.  The  holy  church  throughout  all 
the  world  doth  acknowledge  thee,  the  Father  of  an  infinite 
majesty  ;  thine  honourable,  true,  and  only  Son  ;  also  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  comforter.  Thou  art  the  king  of  glory, 
O  Christ :  thou  art  the  everlasting  Son  of  the  Father. 
When  thou  tookest  upon  thee  to  deliver  man,  thou  didst 
not  abhor  the  Virgin's  womb.  When  thou  hadst  overcome 
the  sharpness  of  death,  thou  didst  open  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  to  all  believers.     Thou  sittest  at  the  right  hand  of 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  269 

God  in  tlie  glory  of  the  Father.  We  believe  that  thou 
shalt  come  to  be  our  judge.  We  therefore  pray  thee,  help 
thy  servants,  whom  thou  hast  redeemed  with  thy  precious 
blood.  Make  them  to  be  numbered  with  thy  saints  in 
glory  everlasting.  O  Lord,  save  thy  people,  and  bless 
thine  heritage.  Govern  them,  and  lift  them  up  for  ever. 
Day  by  day  we  magnify  thee,  and  we  worship  thy  name 
ever  world  without  end.  Vouchsafe,  O  Lord,  to  keep  us 
this  day  without  sin.  O  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us,  have 
mercy  upon  us.  O  Lord,  let  thy  mercy  lighten  upon  us, 
as  our  trust  is  in  thee.  O  Lord,  in  thee  have  I  trusted  : 
let  me  never  be  confounded."     Amen. 

A  Prayer  of  Thanksgiving  after  the  receiving  of  some  great 

Blessing,  as  the  birth  of  an  Heir,  the  success  of  an  honest 

Design,  a  Victory,  a  good  Harvest,  <Sfc. 

O  Lord  God,  father  of  mercies,  the  fountain  of  comfort 
and  blessing,  of  life  and  peace,  of  plenty  and  pardon,  who 
fiUest  heaven  with  thy  glory,  and  earth  with  thy  goodness ; 
I  give  thee  the  most  earnest,  the  most  humble,  and  most  en- 
larged returns  of  my  glad  and  thankful  heart,  for  thou  hast 
refreshed  me  with  thy  comforts,  and  enlarged  me  with  thy 
blessing  :  thou  hast  made  my  flesh  and  my  bones  to  re- 
joice :  for  besides  the  blessings  of  all  mankind,  the  blessings 
of  nature,  and  the  blessings  of  grace,  the  support  of  every 
minute,  and  the  comforts  of  every  day,  thou  hast  opened 
thy  bosom,  and  at  this  time  hast  poured  out  an  excellent 
expression  of  thy  loving  kindness — [liei'e  name  the  Messing.'] 
What  am  I,  O  Lord,  and  what  is  my  father's  house,  what 
is  the  life  and  what  are  the  capacities  of  thy  servant,  that 
thou  shouldst  do  this  unto  me ;  that  the  great  God  of 
men  and  angels  should  make  a  special  decree  in  heaven 
for  me,  and  send  out  an  angel  of  blessing,  and  instead  of 
condemning  and  ruining  me,  as  I  miserably  have  deserved, 
to  distinguish  me  from  many  my  equals  and  my  betters,  by 
this  and  many  other  special  acts  of  grace  and  favour  ? 

Praised  be  the  Lord  daily,  even  the  Lord,  that  helpeth 
us,  and  poureth  his  benefits  upon  us.  He  is  our  God,  even 
the  God  of  whom  cometh  salvation  :  God  is  the  Lord,  by 
whom  we  escape  death.  Thou  hast  brought  me  to  great 
hcnour,  and  comforted  me  on  every  side. 

Thou,  Lord,  hast  made  me  glad  through  thy  works  ;  I 
will  rejoice  in  giving  praise  for  the  operation  of  thy  hands. 
2  b2 


270  PRAYERS  FOR 

O  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  and  call  upon  his  name  : 
tell  the  people,  what  things  he  hrith  done. 

As  for  me,  I  will  give  great  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  and 
praise  him  among  the  multitude. 

Blessed  be  the  Lord  God,  even  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
which  only  doth  wondrous  and  gracious  things. 

And  blessed  be  the  name  of  his  Majesty  for  ever ;  and  all 
the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  his  majesty.  Amen.  Amen. 
Glory  be  to  the  Father,  &;c. 
As  it  was  in  the  beginning,  &;c. 

A  Prayer  to  he  said  on  the  Feast  of  Christmas^  or  the  Birth 
of  our  blessed  Saviour  Jesus :  the  same  also  may  he  said 
Upon  the  Feast  of  the  Annunciation  and  Purification  of  the 
blessed  Virgin  Mary. 

O  holy  and  almighty  God,  Father  of  mercies,  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  thy  love  and  eternal  mer- 
cies, I  adore,  and  praise,  and  glorify  thy  infinite  and  un- 
speakable love  and  wisdom,  who  has  sent  thy  Son  from 
the  bosom  of  felicities  to  take  upon  him  our  nature,  and 
our  misery,  and  our  guilt ;  and  hast  made  the  Son  of  God 
to  become  the  son  of  man,  that  we  might  become  the  sons 
of  God,  and  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature ;  since  thou 
hast  so  exalted  human  nature,  be  pleased  also  to  sanctify 
my  person,  that,  by  a  conformity  to  the  humility  and  laws, 
and  sufferings  of  my  dearest  Saviour,  I  may  be  united  to 
his  Spirit,  and  be  made  all  one  with  the  most  holy  Jesus. 
Amen. 

O  holy  and  eternal  Jesus,  who' didst  pity  mankind  lying 
in  his  blood  and  sin  and  misery,  and  didst  choose  our  sad- 
nesses and  sorrows,  that  thou  mightest  make  us  to  partake 
of  thy  felicities ;  let  thine  eyes  pity  me,  thy  hands  support 
me,  thy  holy  feet  tread  down  all  the  difficulties  in  my  way 
to  heaven  ;  let  me  dwell  in  thy  heart,  be  instructed  with 
thy  wisdom,  moved  by  thy  affections,  choose  with  thy 
will,  and  be  clothed  with  thy  righteousness ;  that,  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  I  may  be  found  having  on  thy  garments, 
sealed  Math  thy  impression ;  and  that,  bearing  upon  every 
faculty  and  member  the  character  of  my  elder  brother, 
I  may  not  be  cast  out  with  strangers  and  unbelievers. 
Amen. 

O  holy  and  ever-blessed  Spirit,  who  didst  overshadow 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  271 

the  holy  Virgin  Mother  of  our  Lord,  and  causedst  her  to 
conceive  by  a  miraculous  and  mysterious  manner ;  be 
pleased  to  overshadow  my  soul,  and  enlighten  my  spirit, 
that  I  may  conceive  the  holy  Jesus  in  my  heart,  and  may 
bear  him  in  my  mind,  and  may  grow  up  to  the  fulness  of 
the  statute  of  Christ,  to  be  a  perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Amen. 

To  God  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  the 
eternal  Son  that  was  incarnate  and  born  of  a  Virgin,  to 
the  Spirit  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  be  all  honour  and 
glory,  worship  and  adoration,  now  and  for  ever.     Amen. 

The  same  Form  of  Prayer  may  be  used  upon  our  own 
birth-day,  or  day  of  our  baptism :  adding  the  following 
prayer. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  upon  our  Birth-day,  or  day  of  Baptism. 
O  blessed  and  eternal  God,  I  give  thee  praise  and  glory 
for  thy  great  mercy  to  me,  in  causing  me  to  be  born  of 
Christian  parents,  and  didst  not  allot  to  me  a  portion  with 
misbelievers  and  heathen  that  have  not  known  thee. 
Thou  didst  not  suffer  me  to  be  strangled  at  the  gate  of 
the  womb,  but  thy  hand  sustained  and  brought  me  to  the 
light  of  the  world,  and  the  illumination  of  baptism,  with 
thy  grace  preventing  my  election,  and  by  an  artificial  ne- 
cessity and  holy  prevention  engaging  me  to  the  profession 
and  practices  of  Christianity.  Lord,  since  that,  I  have 
broken  the  promises  made  in  my  behalf,  and  which  I  con- 
firmed by  my  after-act ;  I  went  back  from  them  by  an  evil 
life  :  and  yet  thou  hast  still  continued  to  me  life  and  time 
of  repentance  ;  and  didst  not  cut  me  off  in  the  beginning  of 
my  days,  and  the  progress  of  my  sins.  O  dearest  God, 
pardon  the  errors  and  ignorances,  the  vices  and  vanities  of 
my  youth  and  the  faults  of  my  more  forward  years,  and 
let  me  never  more  stain  the  whiteness  of  my  baptismal  robe : 
and  now  that  by  thy  grace  I  still  persist  in  the  purposes  of 
obedience,  and  do  give  up  my  name  to  Christ,  and  glory 
to  be  a  disciple  of  thy  institution,  and  a  servant  of  Jesus, 
let  me  never  fail  of  thy  grace  ;  let  no  root  of  bitterness 
spring  up,  and  disorder  my  purposes,  and  defile  my  spirit. 
O  let  my  years  be  so  many  degrees  of  nearer  approach  to 
thee  :  and  forsake  me  not,  O  God  in  my  old  age,  when  I 
am  gray-headed ;  and  when  my  strength  faileth  me,  be 
thou  my  strength  and  my  guide  until  death ;  that  I  may 


^72  PRAYERS  FOR 

reckon   my  years,  and  apply  my  heart  unto  wisdom  ;  and 
at  last,  after  the  spending  a  holy  and  a  blessed  life,  I  may 
be  brought  unto  a  glorious  eternity,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.     Amen. 
Then  add  the  Form  of  Thanksgiving  formerly  described. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  upon  the  days  of  the  Memory 
of  Apostles,  Martyrs,  <Sfc. 
O  eternal  God,  to  whom  do  live  the  spirits  of  them  that 
depart  hence  in  the  Lord,  and  in  whom  the  souls  of  them 
that  be  elected,  after  they  be  delivered  from  the  burden  of 
the  flesh,  be  in  peace  and  rest  from  their  labours,  and  their 
works  follow  them,  and  their  memory  is  blessed ;  I  bless 
and  magnify  thy  holy  and  ever-glorious  name,  for  the 
great  grace  and  blessing  manifested  to  thy  apostles  and 
martyrs,  and  other  holy  persons,  who  have  glorified  thy 
name  in  the  days  of  their  flesh,  and  have  served  the  interest 
of  religion  and  of  thy  servant  [name  the  apostle  or  mar- 
tyr, <S^c.'\  in  remembrance,  whom  thou  hast  led  through 
the  troubles  and  temptations  of  this  world,  and  now  hast 
lodged  in  the  bosom  of  a  certain  hope  and  great  beati- 
tude, until  the  day  of  restitution  of  all  things.  Blessed 
be  the  mercy  and  eternal  goodness  of  God ;  and  the  me- 
mory of  all  thy  saints  is  blessed.  Teach  me  to  practise 
their  doctrine,  to  imitate  their  lives,  following  their  ex- 
ample, and  being  united  as  a  part  of  the  same  mystical 
body  by  the  band  of  the  same  faith,  and  a  holy  hope,  and 
a  never-ceasing  charity.  And  may  it  please  thee,  of  thy 
gracious  goodness,  shortly  to  accomplish  the  number  of 
thine  elect,  and  to  hasten  thy  kingdom,  that  we,  with  thy 
servant  [iiame  <Sfc.']  and  all  others  departed  in  the  true  faith 
and  fear  of  thy  holy  name,  may  have  our  perfect  consumma- 
tion and  bliss,  in  body  and  soul,  in  thy  eternal  and  ever- 
lasting kingdom.     Amen. 

A  form  of  Prayer  recording  all  the  Parts  and  Mysteries  of 
Chrisfs  Passion,  being  a  short  History  of  it :  to  be  used 
especially  in  the  loeeh  of  the  Passion,  and  before  the  re- 
ceiving the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

All  praise,  honour,  and  glory,  be  to  the  holy  and 
eternal  Jesus.  I  adore  thee,  O  blessed  Redeemer,  eternal 
God,  the  light  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  Israel ;  for 
thou   hast  done  and    suflered    for  me  more    than  I  could 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  273 

wish  :  more,  than  I  could  think  of;  even  all  that  a  lost  and 
a  miserable  perishing  sinner  could  need. 

Thou  wert  atllicted  with  thirst  and  hunger,  with  heat  and 
cold,  with  labours  and  sorrows,  with  hard  journeys  and  rest- 
less nights ;  and  when  thou  wert  contriving  all  the  myste- 
rious and  admirable  ways  of  paying  our  scores,  thou  didst 
suffer  thyself  to  be  designed  to  slaughter  by  those  for  whom 
in  love  thou  wert  ready  to  die. 

"  What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  ;  and  the  son 
of  man,  that  thou  visitest  him?" 

Blessed  be  thy  name,  O  holy  Jesus  ;  for  thou  wentest 
about  doing  good,  working  miracles  of  mercy,  healing  the 
sick,  comforting  the  distressed,  instructing  the  ignorant, 
raising  the  dead,  enlightening  the  blind,  strengthening  the 
lame,  straightening  the  crooked,  relieving  the  poor,  preach- 
ing the  gospel,  and  reconciling  sinners  by  the  mightiness 
of  thy  power,  by  the  wisdom  of  thy  Spirit,  by  the  word  of 
God,  and  the  merits  of  thy  passion,  thy  healthful  and  bitter 
passion. 

"  Lord,  what  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him,"  &;c. 

Blessed  be  thy  name,  O  holy  Jesus,  who  wert  content 
to  be  conspired  against  by  the  Jews,  to  be  sold  by  thy  ser- 
vant for  a  vile  price,  and  to  wash  the  feet  of  them  that  took 
money  for  thy  life,  and  to  give  to  him  and  to  all  the  apos- 
tles thy  most  holy  body  and  blood,  to  become  a  sacrifice 
for  their  sins,  even  for  their  betraying  and  denying  thee  ; 
and  for  all  my  sins,  even  for  my  crucifying  thee  afresh, 
and  for  such  sins,  which  I  am  ashamed  to  think,  but 
that  the  greatness  of  my  sins,  magnify  the  infiniteness 
of  thy  mercies,  who  didst  so  great  things  for  so  vile  a 
person. 

"  Lord,  what  is  man,"  &;c. 

Blessed  be  thy  name,  O  holy  Jesus,  who,  being  to  depart 
the  world,  didst  comfort  thy  apostles,  pouring  out  into  their 
ears  and  hearts,  treasures  of  admirable  discourses ;  who 
didst  recommend  them  to  thy  Father  with  a  mighty  charity, 
and  then  didst  enter  into  the  garden  set  with  nothing  but 
briers  and  sorrows,  where  thou  didst  suffer  a  most  unspeak- 
able agony,  until  the  sweat  strained  through  thy  pure  skin 
like  drops  of  blood,  and  there  didst  sigh  and  groan,  and 
fall  flat  upon  the  earth,  and  pray,  and  submit  to  the  intoler- 
able burden  of  thy  Father's  wrath,  which  I  had  deserved, 
and  thou  sufferedst. 


274  PRAYERS  FOR 

"Lortl,  wliat  is  man,"&c. 

Blessed  be  thy  name,  O  holy  Jesus,  who  hast  sanctified 
to  us  all  our  natural  infirmities  and  passions,  by  vouch- 
safing to  be  in  fear  and  trembling  and  sore  amazement,  by 
being"  bound  and  imj)risoned,  by  being  harassed  and  dragged 
with  cords  of  violence  and  rude  hands,  by  being  drenched 
in  the  brook  in  the  way,  by  being  sought  after  like  a  thief, 
and  used  like  a  sinner,  who  wert  the  most  holy  and  the  most 
innocent,  cleaner  than  an  angel,  and  brighter  than  the 
morning  star. 

"  Lord,  what  is  man,"  <kc. 

Blessed  be  thy  name,  O  holy  Jesus,  and  blessed  be  thy 
loving  kindness  and  pity,  by  which  thou  didst  neglect  thy 
own  sorrows,  and  go  to  comfort  the  sadness  of  thy  disciples, 
quickening  their  dulncss,  encouraging  their  duty,  arming 
their  weakness  with  excellent  precepts  against  the  day 
of  trial.  Blessed  be  that  humility  and  sorrow  of  thine, 
who,  being  Lord  of  the  angels,  yet  wouldst  need  and  re- 
ceive comfort  from  thy  servant  the  angel;  who  didst  offer 
thyself  to  thy  persecutors,  and  madest  them  able  to  seize 
thee ;  and  didst  receive  the  traitor's  kiss,  and  suficredst  a 
vail  to  be  thrown  over  thy  holy  face,  that  thy  enemies  might 
not  presently  be  confounded  by  so  bright  a  lustre  ;  and 
wouldst  do  a  miracle  to  cure  a  wound  of  one  of  thy  spiteful 
enemies  ;  and  didst  reprove  a  zealous  servant  in  behalf  of  a 
malicious  adversary  ;  and  then  didst  go  like  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter,  without  noise  or  violence  or  resistance,  when 
thou  couldst  have  commanded  millions  of  angels  for  thy 
guard  and  rescue. 

"  Lord,  what  is  man,"  &c. 

Blessed  be  thy  name,  O  holy  Jesus,  and  blessed  be  that 
holy  sorrow  thou  didst  suflbr,  when  thy  disciples  fled,  and 
thou  wert  left  alone  in  the  hands  of  cruel  men,  who,  like 
evening  wolves,  thirsted  for  a  draught  of  thy  best  blood : 
and  thou  wert  led  to  the  house  of  Annas,  and  there  asked 
ensnaring  questions,  and  smitten  on  the  Aice  by  him,  whose 
ear  thou  hadst  but  lately  healed ;  and  from  thence  wert 
dragged  to  the  house  of  Caiaphas  ;  and  there  all  night  didst 
endure  spittings,  afiVonts,  scorn,  contumelies,  blows,  and 
intolerable  insolences  ;  and  all  this  for  man,  who  was  thy 
enemy,  and  the  cause  of  all  thy  sorrows. 

"  Lord,  what  is  man,"  &c. 

Blessed  be  thy  name,  O  holy  Jesus,  and  blessed  be  thy 


SFAERAL  OCCASIONS.  275 

mercy,  who,  whon  thy  servant  Peter  denied  thee  and  forsook 
thee  and  forswore  thee,  didst  look  back  upon  him,  and,  by 
that  gracious  and  (;hidin<(  look,  didst  call  him  back  to  him- 
self and  thee ;  who  wert  accused  before  the  hijrh-j)riest, 
and  railed  upon,  and  examined  to  evil  purposes,  and  with 
desio-ns  of  blood  ;  Avho  wert  declared  guilty  of  death  for 
speaking  a  most  necessary  and  most  profitable  truth  ;  who 
wert  sent  to  Pilate  and  found  innocent,  and  sent  to  Ilerod 
and  still  found  innocent,  and  wert  arrayed  in  white,  both 
<o  declare  tliy  innocence,  and  yet  to  deride  thy  person,  and 
wert  sent  back  to  Pilate  and  examined  again,  and  yet  no- 
thing but  innocence  found  in  thee,  and  malice  round  about 
thee  to  devour  thy  life,  which  yet  thou  wert  more  desirous 
to  lay  down  for  them,  than  they  were  to  take  it  from  thee. 

"  Lord,  what  is  man,"  &c. 

Blessed  be  thy  name,  O  holy  Jesus,  and  blessed  be  that 
patience  and  charity,  by  which  for  our  sakes  thou  wert 
content  to  be  smitten  with  canes,  and  have  that  holy  face, 
which  angels  with  joy  and  wonder  do  behold,  be  spit  upon, 
and  be  despised,  when  compared  with  Barabbas,  and 
scourged  most  rudely  with  unhallowed  hands,  till  the  pave- 
ment was  purpled  with  that  holy  blood,  and  condemned  to  a 
sad  and  shameful,  a  public  and  painful  death,  and  arrayed  in 
scarlet,  and  crowned  with  thorns,  and  stripped  naked,  and 
then  clothed,  and  loaden  with  the  cross,  and  tormented 
with  a  tablet  stuck  with  nails  at  the  fringes  of  thy  garment, 
and  bound  hard  with  cords,  and  dragged  most  vilely  and 
most  piteously,  till  the  load  was  too  great,  and  did  sink 
thy  tender  and  virginal  body  to  the  earth  ;  and  yet  didst 
comfort  the  weeping  women,  and  didst  more  pity  thy  perse- 
cutors than  thyself,  and  wert  grieved  for  the  miseries  of 
Jerusalem  to  come  forty  years  after,  more  than  for  thy  pre- 
sent passion. 

"  Lord,  what  is  man,"  &;c. 

Blessed  be  thy  name,  O  holy  Jesus,  and  blessed  be  that 
incomparable  sweetness  and  holy  sorrow,  which  thou  suf- 
feredst,  when  thy  holy  hands  and  feet  were  nailed  upon 
the  cross,  and  the  cross,  being  set  in  a  hollowncss  of  the 
earth  did  in  the  fall  rend  the  wounds  wider,  and  there, 
naked  and  bleeding,  sick  and  faint,  wounded  and  despised, 
didst  hang  upon  the  weight  of  thy  w^ounds  three  long  hours, 
praying  for  thy  persecutors,  satisfying  thy  Father's  wrath, 
reconciling  the  penitent  thief,  providing  for  thy  holy  and 


276  PRAYERS  FOR 

afflicted  mother,  tasting  vinegar  and  gall ;  and  when  the 
fulness  of  thy  suffering  was  accomplished,  didst  give  thy 
soul  into  the  hands  of  God,  and  didst  descend  to  the  re- 
gions of  longing  souls,  who  waited  for  the  revelation  of 
this  thy  day  in  their  prisons  of  hope :  and  then  thy  body 
was  transfixed  with  a  spear,  and  issued  forth  two  sacraments, 
water  and  blood  ;  and  thy  body  was  composed  to  burial, 
and  dwelt  in  darkness  three  days  and  three  nights. 

"  Lord,  what  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him ;  and 
the  son  of  man,  that  thou  thus  visitest  him?" 

The  Prayer. 

Thus,  O  blessed  Jesu,  thou  didst  finish  thy  holy  passion 
with  pain  and  anguish  so  great,  that  nothing  could  be 
greater  than  it,  except  thyself  and  thy  own  infinite  mercy  : 
and  all  this  for  man,  even  for  me,  than  whom  nothing 
could  be  more  miserable,  thyself  only  excepted,  who  be- 
camest  so  by  undertaking  our  guilt  and  our  punishment. 
And  now,  Lord,  who  hast  done  so  much  for  me,  be  pleased 
only  to  make  it  effectual  to  me,  that  it  may  not  be  useless 
and  lost  as  to  my  particular,  lest  I  become  eternally  mise- 
rable, and  lost  to  all  hopes  and  possibilities  of  comfort. 
All  this  deserves  more  love  than  1  have  to  give :  but,  Lord, 
do  thou  turn  me  all  into  love,  and  all  my  love  into  obedience, 
and  let  my  obedience  be  without  interruption,  and  then,  I 
hope,  thou  wilt  accept  such  a  return  as  I  can  make.  Make 
me  to  be  something  that  thou  delightest  in,  and  thou  shalt 
have  all  that  I  am  or  have  from  thee,  even  whatsoever  thou 
makest  fit  for  thyself.  Teach  me  to  live  wholly  for  my 
Saviour  Jesus,  and  to  be  ready  to  die  for  Jesus,  and  to  be 
conformable  to  his  life  and  sufferings,  and  to  be  united  to 
him  by  inseparable  unions,  and  to  own  no  passions,  but  what 
may  be  servants  to  Jesus,  and  disciples  of  his  institution. 
O  sweetest  Saviour,  clothe  my  soul  with  thy  holy  robe  ; 
hide  my  sins  in  thy  wounds,  and  bury  them  in  thy  grave  ; 
and  let  me  rise  in  the  life  of  grace,  and  abide  and  grow 
in  it  till  I  arrive  at  the  kingdom  of  glory.  Amen. 

"Our  father,"  dec. 

[Ad  Sect.  7,  8.]  A  form  of  Prayer  or  Intercession  for  all 
Estates  of  People  in  the  Christian  Church.  The  parts  of 
which  may  he  added  to  any  other  forms  ;  and  the  whole  office, 


SEVERAL  OCCASIO^'S.  277 

entirely  as  it  lies,  is  proper  to  be  said  in  our  pi'eparation  to 
the  Holy  Sacrament,  or  on  the  day  of  celebration. 

1.  For  Ourselves. 

O  thou  gracious  Father  of  mercy,  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  have  mercy  upon  thy  servants,  who  bow  our 
heads,  and  our  knees,  and  our  hearts  to  thee  :  pardon  and 
foririve  us  all  our  sins  :  give  us  the  grace  of  holy  repentance, 
and  a  strict  obedience  to  thy  holy  word :  strengthen  us  in 
the  inner  man  with  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  all  the 
parts  and  duties  of  our  calling  and  holy  living :  preserve 
us  for  ever  in  the  unity  of  the  holy  catholic  church,  and  in 
the  integrity  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  in  the  love  of  God 
and  of  our  neighbours,  and  in  the  hope  of  life  eternal.  Amen. 
2.  For  the  whole  Catholic  Church. 

O  holy  Jesus,  king  of  the  saints,  and  prince  of  the  catho- 
lic church,  preserve  thy  spouse,  whom  thou  hast  purchased 
with  thy  right  hand,  and  redeemed  and  cleansed  with  thy 
blood ;  the  whole  catholic  church  from  one  end  of  the  earth 
to  the  other;  she  is  founded  upon  a  rock,  but  planted  in 
the  sea.  O  preserve  her  safe  from  schism,  heresy,  and 
sacrilege.  Unite  all  her  members  with  the  bands  of  faith, 
hope,  and  charity,  and  an  external  communion,  whc-n  it 
shall  seem  good  in  thine  eyes.  Let  the  daily  sacrifice  of 
prayer  and  sacramental  thanksgiving  never  cease,  but  be 
for  ever  presented  to  thee,  and  for  ever  united  to  the  inter- 
cession of  her  dearest  Lord,  and  for  ever  prevail  for  the 
obtaining  for  every  of  its  members  grace  and  blessing,  par- 
don and  salvation.     Amen. 

3.  For  all  Christian  Kings,  Princes,  and  Governors. 
O  King  of  kings,  and  Prince  of  all  the  rulers  of  the 
earth,  give  thy  grace  and  Spirit  to  all  Christian  princes, 
the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  counsel,  the  spirit  of  government 
and  godly  fear.  Grant  unto  them  to  live  in  peace  and  ho- 
nour, that  their  people  may  love  and  fear  them,  and  they 
may  love  and  fear  God.  Speak  good  unto  their  hearts 
concerning  the  church,  that  they  may  be  nursing  fathers 
to  it,  fathers  to  the  fatherless,  judges  and  avengers  of  the 
cause  of  widows  :  that  they  may  be  compassionate  to  the 
wants  of  the  poor,  and  the  groans  of  the  oppressed ;  that 
they  may  not  vex  or  kill  the  Lord's  people  with  unjust  or 
ambitious  wars,  but  may  feed  the  flock  of  God,  and  may 
2C 


278  PRAYERS  FOR 

inquire  after  and  do  all  things,  which  may  promote  peace, 
public  honesty,  and  holy  religion ;  so  administering  things 
present,  that  they  may  not  fail  of  the  everlasting  glories 
of  the  world  to  come,  where  all  thy  faithful  people  shall 
reign  kings  for  ever.     Amen. 

4.  For  all  the  Orders  of  them  that  Minister  about 

Holy  Things. 

O  thou  great  shepherd  and  bishop  of  our  souls,  holy  and 
eternal  Jesus,  give  unto  thy  servants,  the  ministers  of  the 
mysteries  of  Christian  religion,  the  spirit  of  prudence  and 
sanctity,  faith  and  charity,  confidence  and  zeal,  diligence 
and  watchfulness,  that  they  may  declare  thy  will  unto  the 
people  faithfully,  and  dispense  thy  sacraments  rightly,  and 
intercede  with  thee  graciously  and  acceptably  for  thy  ser- 
vants. Grant,  O  Lord,  that  by  a  holy  life  and  a  true  belief, 
by  well  doing  and  patient  suffering  (when  thou  shalt  call 
them  to  it,)  they  may  glorify  thee  the  great  lover  of  souls, 
and  after  a  plentiful  conversion  of  sinners  from  the  error 
of  their  ways,  they  may  shine  like  the  stars  in  glory. 
Amen. 

Give  unto  thy  servants,  the  bishops,  a  discerning  spirit, 
that  they  may  lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,  but  may 
depute  such  persons  to  the  ministries  of  religion,  who  may 
adorn  the  gospel  of  God,  and  whose  lips  may  preserve 
knowledge,  and  such  who  by  their  good  preaching  and 
holy  living  may  advance  the  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Amen. 

5.  For  our  nearest  Relatives,  as  Husband,  Wife, 

Children,.  Family,  dfc. 

O  God  of  infinite  mercy,  let  thy  loving  mercy  and  com^ 
passion  descend  upon  the  head  of  thy  servants,  [my  ivife 
or  husband,  children,  and  family :]  be  pleased  to  give  them 
health  of  body  and  of  spirit,  a  competent  portion  of  tem- 
porals, so  as  may  with  comfort  support  them  in  their 
journey  to  heaven :  preserve  them  from  all  evil  and  sad 
accidents,  defend  them  in  all  assaults  of  their  enemies,  di- 
rect  their  persons  and  their  actions,  sanctify  their  hearts, 
and  words,  and  purposes ;  that  we  all  may,  by  the  bands 
of  obedience  and  charity,  be  united  to  our  Lord  Jesus,  and 
always  feeling  thee  our  merciful  and  gracious  father,  may 
become  a  holy  family,  discharging  our  whole  duty  in  all 
our  relations;  that  we  in  this  life  being  thy  children  by 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  279 

adoption  and  grace,  may  be  admitted  into  thy  holy  family 
hereafter,  for  ever  to  sing  praises  to  thee  in  the  church 
of  the  first-born,  in  the  family  of  thy  redeemed  ones. 
Amen. 

6.  Foi'  our  Parents,  our  Kindred  in  the  Flesh,  our  Friends 

and  Benefactors. 
O  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  who  hast  made  [my 
parents,']  my  friends  and  my  benefactors  ministers  of  thy 
mercy  and  instruments  of  providence  to  thy  servant,  I 
humbly  beg  a  blessing  to  descend  upon  the  heads  of  {name 
the  persons,  or  the  relations.]  Depute  thy  holy  angels  to 
guard  their  persons,  thy  Holy  Spirit  to  guide  their  souls, 
thy  providence  to  minister  to  their  necessities ;  and  let  thy 
grace  and  mercy  preserve  them  from  the  bitter  pains  of 
eternal  death,  and  bring  them  to  everlasting  life,  through 
Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 

7.  For  all  that  lie  under  the  Rod  of  War,  Famine,  Pestilence: 

to  he  said  in  the  time  of  Plague,  or  War,  <^c. 

O  Lord  God  Almighty,  thou  art  our  Father,  we  are  thy 
children  :  thou  art  our  Redeemer,  we  thy  people  purchased 
with  the  price  of  thy  most  precious  blood  :  be  pleased  to 
moderate  thy  anger  towards  thy  servants  ;  let  not  thy  whole 
displeasure  arise,  lest  we  be  consumed  and  brought  to  no- 
thing. Let  health  and  peace  be  within  our  dwellings  :  let 
righteousness  and  holiness  dwell  for  ever  in  our  hearts, 
and  be  expressed  in  all  our  actions,  and  the  light  of  thy 
countenance  be  upon  us  in  all  our  sufferings,  that  we  may 
delight  in  the  service  and  in  the  mercies  of  God  for  ever. 
Amen. 

O  gracious  Father  and  merciful  God,  if  it  be  thy  will, 
say  unto  the  destroying  angel,  "  it  is  enough  :"  and  though 
we  are  not  better  than  our  brethern,  who  are  smitten 
with  the  rod  of  God,  but  much  worse,  yet  may  it  please 
thee,  even  because  thou  art  good,  and  because  we  are  ti- 
morous and  sinful,  not  yet  fitted  for  our  appearance,  to  set 
thy  mark  upon  our  foreheads,  that  thy  angel,  the  minister 
of  thy  justice,  may  pass  over  us  and  hurt  us  not :  let  thy 
hand  cover  thy  servants  and  hide  us  in  the  clefts  of  the 
rock,  in  the  wounds  of  the  holy  Jesus,  from  the  present 
anger  that  is  gone  out  against  us ;  that  though  we  walk 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  we  may  fear  no 
evil  and  suffer  none  :  and  those,  whom  thou  hast  smitten 


280  PRAYERS  FOR 

with  thy  rod,  support  with  thy  staff,  and  visit  them  with  thy 
mercies  and  salvation,  through  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 

8.  For  all  Women  with  Child,  and  for  mibo?'n  Children. 
O  Lord  God,  who  art  the  father  of  them  that  trust  in 

thee,  and  showest  mercy  to  a  thousand  generations  of  them 
that  fear  thee ;  have  mercy  upon  all  women  great  with 
child,  be  pleased  to  give  them  a  joyful  and  safe  deliver- 
ance :  and  let  thy  grace  preserve  the  fruit  of  their  wombs, 
and  conduct  them  to  the  holy  sacrament  of  baptism ;  that 
they,  being  regenerated  by  thy  spirit,  and  adopted  into  thy 
family,  and  the  portion  and  duty  of  sons,  may  live  to  the 
glory  of  God,  to  the  comfort  of  their  parents  and  friends, 
to  the  edification  of  the  Christian  commonwealth,  and  the 
salvation  of  their  own  souls,  through  Jesus  Christ.    Amen. 

9.  For  all  Estates  of  Men  and  Women,  in  the  Christian 

Church. 

O  holy  God,  king  eternal,  out  of  the  infinite  store- 
houses of  thy  grace  and  mercy,  give  unto  all  virgins  chas- 
tity, and  a  religious  spirit:  to  all  persons  dedicated  to 
thee  and  to  religion,  continence  and  meekness,  an  active 
zeal  and  an  unwearied  spirit ;  to  all  married  pairs,  faith 
and  holiness;  to  widows  and  fatherless,  and  all  that  are  op- 
pressed, thy  patronage,  comfort,  and  defence ;  to  all  Chris- 
tian women,  simplicity  and  modesty,  humility  and  chastity, 
patience  and  charity  ;  give  unto  the  poor,  to  all  that  are 
robbed  and  spoiled  of  their  goods,  a  competent  support, 
and  a  contented  spirit,  and  a  treasure  in  heaven  hereafter: 
give  unto  prisoners  and  captives,  to  them  that  toil  in  the 
mines,  and  row  in  the  gallies,  strength  of  body  and  of  spirit, 
liberty  and  redemption,  comfort  and  restitution :  to  all  that 
travel  by  land,  thy  angel  for  their  guide,  and  a  holy  and 
prosperous  return :  to  all  that  travel  by  sea,  freedom  from 
pirates  and  shipwreck,  and  bring  them  to  the  haven  where 
they  would  be ;  to  distressed  and  scrupulous  consciences, 
to  melancholy  and  disconsolate  persons,  to  all  that  are 
afflicted  with  evil  and  unclean  spirits,  give  a  light  from 
heaven,  great  grace  and  proportionable  comforts,  and 
timely  deliverance ;  give  them  patience  and  resignation  ; 
let  their  sorrows  be  changed  into  grace  and  comfort,  and 
let  the  storm  waft  them  certainly  to  the  regions  of  rest  and 
glory. 

Lord  God  of  mercy,  give  to  thy  martyrs,  confessors,  and 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  281 

all  thy  persecuted,  constancy  and  prudence,  boldness  and 
hope,  a  full  faith  and  a  never-failing  charity.  To  all  who 
are  condemned  to  death,  do  thou  minister  comfort,  a  strong, 
a  quiet,  and  a  resigned  spirit  :  take  from  them  the  fear  of 
death,  and  all  remaining  affections  to  sin,  and  all  imperfec- 
tions of  duty,  and  cause  them  to  die  full  of  grace,  full  of 
hope.  And  give  to  all  faithful,  and  particularly  to  them, 
who  have  recommended  themselves  to  the  prayers  of  thy 
unworthy  servant,  a  supply  of  all  their  needs  temporal  and 
spiritual,  and  according  to  their  several  states  and  necessi- 
ties, rest  and  peace,  pardon  and  refreshment :  and  show  us 
all  a  mercy  in  the  day  of  judgment.    Amen. 

Give,  O  Lord,  to  the  magistrates  equity,  sincerity,  cou- 
rage, and  prudence,  that  they  may  protect  the  good,  de- 
fend religion,  and  punish  the  wrong  doers.  Give  to  the 
nobility  wisdom,  valour,  and  loyalty  :  to  merchants,  justice 
and  faithfulness  :  to  all  artificers  and  labourers,  truth 
and  honesty  :  to  our  enemies,  forgiveness  and  brotherly 
kindness. 

Preserve  to  us  the  heavens  and  the  air  in  healthful  in- 
fluence and  disposition,  the  earth  in  plenty,  the  kingdom 
in  peace  and  good  government,  our  marriages  in  peace, 
and  sweetness,  and  innocence  of  society,  thy  people  from 
famine  and  pestilence,  our  houses  from  burning  and  rob- 
bery, our  persons  from  being  burnt  alive  :  from  banishment 
and  prison,  from  widowhood  and  destitution,  from  violence 
of  pains  and  passion,  from  tempests  and  earthquakes,  from 
inundation  of  waters,  from  rebellion  or  invasion,  from  im- 
patience and  inordinate  cares,  from  tediousness  of  spirit  and 
despair,  from  murder,  and  all  violent,  accursed,  and  unusual 
deaths,  from  the  surprise  of  sudden  and  violent  accidents, 
from  passionate  and  unreasonable  fears,  from  all  thy  wrath, 
and  from  all  our  sins,  good  Lord,  deliver  and  preserve  thy 
servants  for  ever.    Amen. 

Repress  the  violence  of  all  implacable,  warring,  and 
tyrant  nations  :  bring  home  unto  thy  fold  all  that  are  gone 
astray  :  call  into  the  church  all  strangers  ;  increase  the 
number  and  holiness  of  thine  own  people  :  bring  infants  to 
ripeness  of  age  and  reason  :  confirm  all  baptized  people 
with  thy  grace  and  with  thy  Spirit :  instruct  the  novices 
and  new  Christians :  let  a  great  grace  and  merciful  pro- 
vidence bring  youthful  persons  safely  and  holily  through 
the  indiscretions,  and  passions,  and  temptations  of  their 
2c2 


282  PRAYERS  FOR 

younger  years  :  and  to  those  whom  thou  hast  or  shalt  permit 
to  live  to  the  age  of  a  man,  give  competent  strength  and 
wisdom ;  take  from  them  covetousness  and  churlishness, 
pride  and  impatience  ;  fill  them  full  of  devotion  and  charity, 
repentance  and  sobriety,  holy  thoughts  and  longing  desires 
after  heaven  and  heavenly  things  ;  give  them  a  holy  and  a 
blessed  death,  and  to  us  all  a  joyful  resurrection  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 

Ad  Sect.  10.]  The  manner  of  using  these  Devotions  hyu-ay 
of  preparation  to  the  receiving  the  Blessed  Sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  just  preparation  to  this  holy  feast  consisting  princi- 
pally in  a  holy  life,  and  consequently  in  tlie  repetition  of 
the  acts  of  all  virtues,  and  especially  of  faith,  repentance, 
charity,  and  thanksgiving:  to  the  exercise  of  these  four 
graces,  let  the  person,  that  intends  to  communicate,  in  the 
time  set  apart  for  his  preparation  and  devotion,  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  faith,  recite  the  prayer  or  litany  of  the  passion  ; 
for  the  exercise  of  repentance,  the  form  of  confession  of 
sins  Avith  the  prayer  annexed ;  and  for  the  graces  of  thanks- 
giving and  charity,  let  him  use  "the  special  forms  of  prayer 
above  described.  Or  if  a  less  time  can  be  allotted  for  pre- 
paratory devotion,  the  two  first  will  be  the  more  proper,  as 
containing  in  them  all  the  personal  duty  of  the  communi- 
cant. To  which,  upon  the  morning  of  that  holy  solemnity, 
let  him  add 

A  Prayer  of  Preparation  or  Address  to  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment.   An  Act  of  Love. 

O  most  gracious  and  eternal  God,  the  heiper  of  the  help- 
less, the  comforter  of  the  comfortless,  the  hope  of  the  af- 
flicted, the  bread  of  the  hungry,  the  drink  of  the  thirsty, 
and  the  Saviour  of  all  them  that  wait  upon  thee ;  I  bless 
and  glorify  thy  name,  and  adore  thy  goodness,  and  delight 
in  thy  love,  that  thou  hast  once  more  given  me  the  oppor- 
tunity of  receiving  the  greatest  favour  which  I  can  receive 
in  this  Vv'orld,  even  the  body  and  blood  of  my  dearest  Sa- 
viour.  O  take  from  me  all  affection  to  sin  or  vanity ;  let 
not  my  affections  dwell  below,  but  soar  upwards  to  the  ele- 
ment of  love,  to  the  seat  of  God,  to  the  regions  of  glory,  and 
the  inheritance  of  Jesus  :  that  I  may  hunger  and  thirst  for 
the  bread  of  life,  and  the  wine  of  elect  souls,  and  may  know 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  283 

no  loves  but  the  love  of  God,  and  the  most  merciful  Jesus. 
Amen. 

An  Act  of  Desire. 

O  blessed  Jesus,  thou  hast  used  many  arts  to  save  me, 
thou  hast  given  thy  life  to  redeem  me,  thy  Holy  Spirit  to 
sanctify  me,  thyself  for  my  example,  thy  word  for  my  rule, 
thy  grace  for  my  guide,  the  fruit  of  thy  body  hanging  on 
tlie  tree  of  the  cross  for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ;  and  after  all 
this,  thou  hast  sent  thy  apostles  and  ministers  of  salvation 
to  call  me,  to  importune  me,  to  constrain  me  to  holiness, 
and  peace,  and  felicity.  O  now  come,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly :  my  heart  is  desirous  of  thy  presence,  and  thirsty 
of  thy  grace,  and  would  fain  entertain  thee,  not  as  a  guest, 
but  as  an  inhabitant,  as  the  Lord  of  all  my  faculties.  En- 
ter in  and  take  possession,  and  dwell  with  me  for  ever ; 
that  I  also  may  dwell  in  the  heart  of  my  dearest  Lord, 
which  was  opened  for  me  with  a  spear  and  love. 

An  Act  of  Contrition. 

Lord,  thou  shait  find  my  heart  full  of  cares  and  worldly 
desires,  cheated  with  love  of  riches,  and  neglect  of  holy 
things,  proud  and  unmortified,  false  and  crafty  to  deceive 
itself,  intricated  and  entangled  with  difficult  cases  of  con- 
science, with  knots  which  my  own  wildness,  and  inconsi- 
deration,  and  impatience,  have  tied  and  shuffled  together. 
O  my  dearest  Lord,  if  thou  canst  behold  such  an  impure 
seat,  behold  the  place,  to  which  thou  art  invited,  is  full 
of  passion  and  prejudice,  evil  principles  and  evil  habits, 
peevish  and  disobedient,  lustful  and  intemperate,  and  full  of 
sad  remembrances,  that  I  have  often  provoked  to  jealousy 
and  to  anger  thee  my  God,  my  dearest  Saviour,  him  that 
died  for  me,  liim  that  sutfered  torments  for  me,  that  is  in- 
finitely good  to  me,  and  infinitely  good  and  perfect  in  him- 
self. This,  O  dearest  Saviour,  is  a  sad  truth,  and  I  am 
heartily  ashamed,  and  truly  sorrowful  for  it,  and  do  deeply 
hate  all  my  sins,  and  am  full  of  indignation  against  myself 
for  so  unvvorthv,  so  careless,  so  continued,  so  great  a  folly  : 
and  humbly  beg  of  thee  to  increase  my  sorrow,  and  my 
care,  and  my  h-itred,  against  sin  ;  and  make  my  love  to 
thee  swell  up  to  a  great  grace,  and  then  to  glory  and  im- 
mensity. 


284  PRAYERS  FOR 

An  Act  of  Faith. 

This  indeed,  is  my  condition;  but  I  know,  O  blessed 
Jesus,  that  thou  didst  take  upon  thee  my  nature,  that  thou 
mightest  suffer  for  my  sins,  and  thou  didst  suffer  to  deliver 
me  from  them  and  from  thy  Father's  wrath :  and  I  was 
delivered  from  this  wrath,  that  I  might  serve  thee  in  holi- 
ness  and  righteousness  all  my  days.  Lord,  I  am  as  sure 
thou  didst  the  great  work  of  redemption  for  me  and  all 
mankind,  as  that  I  am  alive.  This  is  my  hope,  the  strength 
of  my  spirit,  my  joy  and  my  confidence  :  and  do  thou 
never  let  the  spirit  of  unbelief  enter  into  me  and  take  me 
from  this  rock.  Here  I  will  dwell,  for  I  have  delight  there- 
in :  here  I  will  live,  and  here  I  desire  to  die. 
The  Petition. 

Therefore,  O  blessed  Jesu,  who  art  my  Saviour  and  my 
God,  whose  body  is  my  food,  and  thy  righteousness  is  my 
robe,  thou  art  the  priest  and  the  sacrifice,  the  master  oif 
the  feast  and  the  feast  itself,  the  physician  of  my  soul,  the 
light  of  mine  eyes,  the  purifier  of  my  stains  :  enter  into  my 
heart,  and  cast  out  from  thence  all  impurities,  all  the  re- 
mains of  the  old  man  ;  and  grant  I  may  partake  of  this 
holy  sacrament  with  much  reverence,  and  holy  relish,  and 
great  effect,  receiving  hence  the  communication  of  thy  holy 
body  and  blood,  for  the  establishment  of  an  unreprovable 
faith,  of  an  unfeigned  love,  for  the  fulness  of  Masdom,  for 
the  healing  my  soul,  for  the  blessing  and  preservation  of 
my  body,  for  the  taking  out  of  the  sting  of  temporal  death, 
and  for  the  assurance  of  a  holy  resurrection,  for  the  ejection 
of  all  evil  from  within  me,  and  the  fulfilling  all  thy  righte- 
ous commandments,  and  to  procure  for  me  a  mercy  and  a 
fair  reception  at  the  day  of  judgment,  through  thy  mercies, 
O  holy  and  ever-blessed  Saviour  Jesus.     Amen. 

[Here  also  may  be  added  the  prayer  after  receiving  the 
cup.] 

Ejaculations  to  be  said  before,  or,  at  the  Receiving  the 
Holy  Sacrament. 

Like  as  the  hart  desireth  the  water-brooks :  so  longeth 
my  soul  after  thee,  O  God.  My  soul  is  athirst  for  God,  yea, 
even  for  the  living  God :  when  shall  I  come  befDre  the 
presence  of  God?  Psalm  xlii.  1,  2. 

O  Lord  my  God,  great  are  thy  wondrous  works  which 
thou  hast  done ;  like  as  be  also  thy  thoughts,  which  are  to 


SEVERAL  OCCASIONS.  285 

usward :  and  yet  there  is  no  man,  that  ordereth  them  unto 
thee.  Psal.  xl.  6. 

0  send  out  tliy  light  and  thy  truth,  that  they  may  lead 
me  and  bring  me  unto  thy  holy  hill  and  to  thy  dwelling : 
and  that  I  may  go  unto  the  altar  of  God,  even  unto  the  God 
of  my  joy  and  gladness :  and  with  my  heart  will  I  give 
thanks  to  thee,  O  God  my  God.     Psal.  xliii.  3,  4. 

1  will  wash  my  hands  in  innocence,  O  Lord;  and  so 
will  I  go  to  thine  altar :  that  I  may  show  the  voice  of 
thanksgiving,  and  tell  of  all  thy  wondrous  works.  Psalm 
xxvi.  6,  7. 

Examine  me,  O  Lord,  and  prove  me  ;  try  thou  my  reins 
and  my  heart.  For  thy  loving  kindness  is  now  and  ever 
before  my  eyes  :  and  I  will  walk  in  thy  truth,  ver.  2,  3. 

Thou  shalt  prepare  a  table  before  me  against  them  that 
trouble  me  :  thou  hast  anointed  mine  head  with  oil,  and  my 
cup  shall  be  full.  But  thy  loving-kindness  and  mercy  shall 
follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life,  and  I  will  dwell  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  for  ever.  Psal.  xxiii.  5,  6. 

This  is  the  bread  that  comcth  down  from  heaven,  that  a 
man  may  eat  thereof  and  not  die.  John  vi.  50. 

Whoso  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelletli 
in  me  and  I  in  him,  and  hath  eternal  life  abiding  in  him, 
and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day.  ver.  54.  56. 

Lord,  whither  shall  we  go  but  to  thee  ?  thou  hast  the 
words  of  eternal  life.  John  vi.  68, 

If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink. 
John  vii.  37. 

The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communication 
of  the  body  of  Christ  ?  and  the  cup  whic^h  we  drink,  is  it 
not  the  communication  of  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  1  Cor.  x.  16. 

What  are  those  wounds  in  thy  hands  1  They  are  those 
with  which  I  was  wounded  in  the  house  of  my  friends. 
Zech.  xiii.  6. 

Immediately  before  the  receiving,  say. 

Lord,  I  am  not  worthy,  that  thou  shouldst  enter  under 
my  roof.  But  do  thou  speak  the  word  only,  and  thy  ser- 
vant shall  be  healed.  Matt.  viii.  8. 

Lord,  open  thou  my  lips,  and  my  mouth  shall  show  thy 
praise.  O  God,  make  speed  to  save  me  :  O  Lord,  make 
haste  to  help  me. 

Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly 


286  PRAYERS  FOR 

After  receiving  the  Consecrated  and  Blessed  Bread,  say, 
O  taste  and  see  how  gracious  the  Lord  is :  blessed  is 
the  man  that  trusteth  in  him.  The  beasts  do  lack  and 
suffer  hunger  ;  but  they  which  seek  the  Lord  shall  want 
no  manner  of  thing  that  is  good.  Lord,  what  am  I,  that 
my  Saviour  should  become  my  food  ;  that  the  Son  of  God 
should  be  the  meat  of  worms,  of  dust  and  ashes,  of  a  sin- 
ner, of  him  that  was  his  enemy  ?  But  this  thou  hast  done 
to  me,  because  thou  art  infinitely  good  and  wonderfully 
gracious,  and  lovest  to  bless  every  one  of  us,  in  turning  us 
from  the  evil  of  our  ways.  Enter  into  me,  blessed  Jesus : 
let  no  root  of  bitterness  spring  up  in  my  heart ;  but  be  thou 
Lord  of  all  my  faculties.  O  let  me  feed  on  thee  by  faith, 
and  grow  up  by  the  increase  of  God  to  a  perfect  man  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Amen.  Lord,  I  believe :  help  mine  unbelief. 
Glory  be  to  God  the  Father,  Son,  &c. 

After  receiving  the  Cup  of  Blessing. 

It  is  finished.  Blessed  be  the  mercies  of  God  revealed 
to  us  in  Jesus  Christ.  O  blessed  and  eternal  High-Priest, 
let  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  which  thou  didst  once  ofter 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  and  which  thou  dost  now 
and  always  represent  in  heaven  to  thy  Father  by  thy  never- 
ceasing  intercession,  and  which  this  day  hath  been  exhi- 
bited on  thy  holy  table  sacramentally,  obtain  mercy  and 
peace,  faith  and  charity,  safety  and  establishment  to  thy 
holy  church,  which  thou  hast  founded  upon  a  rock,  the 
rock  of  a  holy  faith  ;  and  let  not  the  gates  of  hell  prevail 
against  her,  nor  the  enemy  of  mankind  take  any  soul  out 
of  thy  hand,  whom  thou  hast  purchased  with  thy  blood,  and 
sanctified  by  thy  Spirit.  Preserve  all  thy  people  from 
heresy  and  division  of  spirit,  from  scandal  and  the  spirit  of 
delusion,  from  sacrilege  and  hurtful  persecutions.  Thou, 
O  blessed  Jesus,  didst  die  for  us  :  keep  me  for  ever  in  holy 
living,  from  sin  and  sinful  shame,  in  the  communion  of  thy 
church,  and  thy  church  in  safety  and  grace,  in  truth  and 
peace  unto  thy  second  coming.  Amen. 

Dear  Jesu,  since  thou  art  pleased  to  enter  into  me,  O 
be  jealous  of  thy  house  and  the  place  where  thine  honour 
dwelleth:  suffer  no  unclean  spirit  or  unholy  thought  to 
come  near  thy  dwelling,  lest  it  defile  the  ground,  where 
thy  holy  feet  have  trod.  O  teach  me  so  to  walk,  that  I 
may  never  disrepute  the  honour  of  my  religion,  nor  stain 


Several  occasions.  287 

the  holy  robe  which  thou  hast  now  put  upon  my  soul,  nor 
break  my  holy  vows  which  I  have  made,  and  thou  hast 
sealed,  nor  lose  my  right  of  inheritance,  my  privilege  of 
being  co-heir  with  Jesus,  into  the  hope  of  which  I  have 
now  further  entered  :  but  be  thou  pleased  to  love  me  with 
the  love  of  a  father,  and  a  brother,  and  a  husband,  and  a 
lord  ;  and  make  me  to  serve  thee  in  the  communion  of 
saints,  in  receiving  the  sacrament,  in  the  practice  of  all  holy 
virtues,  in  the  imitation  of  thy  life,  and  conformity  to  thy 
sufferings  ;  that  I,  having  now  put  on  the  Lord  Jesus,  may 
marry  his  loves  and  his  enmities,  may  desire  his  glory, 
may  obey  his  laws,  and  be  united  to  his  Spirit,  and  in  the 
day  of  the  Lord  I  may  be  found  having  on  the  wedding-gar- 
ment, and  bearing  in  my  body  and  soul  the  marks  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  that  I  may  enter  into  the  joy  of  the  Lord,  and 
partake  of  his  glories  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen. 

Ejaculations  to  be  used  any  time  that  day,  after  the 
solemnity  is  ended. 

Lord,  if  1  had  lived  innocently,  I  could  not  have  deserv- 
ed to  receive  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  thy  table.  How 
great  is  thy  mercy,  who  hast  feasted  me  with  the  bread  of 
virgins,  with  the  wine  of  angels,  with  manna  from  heaven  ! 

O  when  shall  I  pass  from  this  dark  ^lass,  from  this  veil 
of  sacraments,  to  the  vision  of  thy  eternal  clarity  ;  from 
eating  thy  body,  to  beholding  thy  face  in  thy  eternal 
kingdom  ? 

Let  not  my  sins  crucify  the  Lord  of  life  again :  let  it 
never  be  said  concerning  me,  "  The  hand  of  him  that  be- 
trayeth  me,  is  with  me  on  the  table." 

O  that  I  might  love  thee  as  well  as  ever  any  creature 
loved  thee  !  Let  me  think  nothing  but  thee,  desire  nothing 
but  thee,  enjoy  nothing  but  thee. 

O  Jesus,  be  a  Jesus  unto  me.  Thou  art  all  things  unto 
me.  Let  nothing  ever  please  me,  but  what  savours  of  thee 
and  thy  miraculous  sweetness. 

Blessed  be  the  mercies  of  our  Lord,  who  of  God  is  made 
unto  me  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and 
redemption. 

"  He  that  glorieth,  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord."  Amen. 

THE    END    OF   HOLY    LIVING. 


THE 


RULE    AND    EXERCISES 


HOLY  DYING. 


TOGETHER  WITH 


PRAYERS  AND  ACTS  OF  VIRTUE, 


RULES  FOR  THE  VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK,  AND  OFFICES 
PROPER  FOR  THAT  MINISTRY. 


BY  JEREMY   TAYLOR. 


THOMAS  WARDLE,  No.  15  MINOR  STREET. 

STEREOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHNSON. 


1835. 


TO 

THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE 

AND  NOBLEST  LORD, 

RICHARD,  EARL  OF  CARBERRY, 


Mr  LORD, — I  am  treating  your  Lordship,  as  a  Roman  gen- 
tleman did  St.  Augustine  and  his  mother  ;  I  shall  entertain 
you  in  a  charnel-house,  and  carry  your  meditations  awhile 
into  the  chambers  of  death,  where  you  shall  find  the  rooms 
dressed  up  with  melancholic  arts,  and  fit  to  converse  with 
your  most  retired  thoughts,  which  begin  with  a  sigh,  and 
proceed  in  deep  consideration,  and  end  in  a  holy  resolution. 
The  sight  that  St.  Augustine  most  noted  in  that  house  of 
sorrow,  was  the  body  of  Caesar,  clothed  with  all  the  disho- 
nours of  corruption,  that  you  can  suppose  in  a  six  months' 
burial.  But  I  know,  that,  without  pointing,  your  first 
thoughts  will  remember  the  change  of  a  greater  beauty, 
which  is  now  dressing  for  the  brightest  immortality,  and 
from  her  bed  of  darkness  calls  to  you  to  dress  your  soul 
for  that  change,  which  shall  mingle  your  bones  with  that 
beloved  dust,  and  carry  your  soul  to  the  same  quire,  where 
you  may  both  sit  and  sing  for  ever.  My  Lord,  it  is  your 
dear  Lady's  anniversary,  and  she  deserved  the  biggest 
honour,  and  the  longest  memory,  and  the  fairest  monu- 
ment, and  the  most  solemn  mourning:  and  in  order  to 
it,  give  me  leave,  my  Lord,  to  cover  her  hearse,  with 
these  following  sheets.  This  book  was  intended  first 
to  minister  to  her  piety :  and  she  desired  all  good  people 
should  partake  of  the  advantages  which  are  here  re- 
corded :  she  knew  how  to  live  rarely  well,  and  she  de- 
sired to  know  how  to  die  ;  and  God  taught  her  by  an 
experiment.  But  since  her  work  is  done,  and  God 
supplied   her  with  provisions  of  his  own,  before  I  could 

3 


4  DEDICATION. 

minister  to  her,  and  perfect  what  she  desired,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  present  to  your  Lordship  those  bundles  of  cypress, 
which  were  intended  to  dress  her  closet,  but  come  now  to 
dress  her  hearse.  My  Loid,  both  your  Lordship  and  my- 
self have  lately  seen  and  felt  such  sorrows  of  death,  and 
such  sad  departure  of  dearest  friends,  that  it  is  more  than 
high  time  we  should  think  ourselves  nearly  concerned  in 
the  accidents.  Death  hath  come  so  near  to  you,  as  to 
fetch  a  portion  from  your  very  heart :  and  now  you  cannot 
choose  but  dig  your  own  grave,  and  place  your  coffin  in 
your  eye,  when  the  angel  hath  dressed  your  scene  of  sor- 
row and  meditation  with  so  particular  and  so  near  an  ob- 
ject :  and  therefore,  as  it  is  my  duty,  I  am  come  to  minister 
to  your  pious  thoughts,  and  to  direct  your  sorrows,  that 
they  may  turn  into  virtues  and  advantages. 

And  since  I  know  your  Lordship  to  be  so  constant  and 
regular  in  your  devotions,  and  so  tender  in  the  matter  of 
justice,  so  ready  in  the  expressions  of  charity,  and  so  ap- 
prehensive of  religion;  and  that  you  are  a  person,  whose 
work  of  grace  is  apt,  and  must  every  day  grow  toward 
those  degrees,  where,  when  you  arrive,  you  shall  triumph 
over  imperfection,  and  choose  nothing  but  what  may 
please  God  ;  I  could  not  by  any  compendium  conduct  and 
assist  your  pious  purposes  so  well,  as  by  that,  which  is  the 
great  argument  and  the  great  instrument  of  Holy  Living, 
the  consideration  and  exercises  of  death. 

My  Lord,  it  is  a  great  art  to  die  well,  and  to  be  learnt 
by  men  in  health,  by  them  that  can  discourse  and  consider, 
by  those  whose  understanding  and  acts  of  reason  are  not 
abated  with  fear  or  pains :  and  as  the  greatest  part  of 
death  is  passed  by  the  preceding  years  of  our  life,  so  also 
in  those  years  are  the  greatest  preparations  to  it :  and  he 
that  prepares  not  for  death  before  his  last  sickness,  is  like 
him  that  begins  to  study  philosophy  when  he  is  going  to 
dispute  publicly  in  the  faculty.  All  that  a  sick  and  dying- 
man  can  do,  is  but  to  exercise  those  virtues  which  he  be- 
fore acquired,  and  to  perfect  that  repentance,  which  was 
begun  more  early.  And  of  this,  my  Lord,  my  book,  I 
think,  is  a  good  testimony  ;  not  only  because  it  represents 
the  vanity  of  a  late  and  sick-bed  repentance,  but  because 
it  contains  in  it  so  many  precepts  and  meditations,  so 
many  propositions  and  various  duties,  such  forms  of  exer- 
cise, and  the  degrees  and  difficulties  of  so  many  graces, 


DEDICATION.  5 

which  are  necessary  preparatives  to  a  holy  death,  that  the 
very  learning  the  duties  requires  study  and  skill,  time  and 
understanding,  in  the  ways  of  godliness :  and  it  were  very 
vain  to  say  so  much  is  necessary,  and  not  to  suppose 
more  time  to  learn  them,  more  skill  to  practise  them, 
more  opportunities  to  desire  them,  more  abilities  both  of 
body  and  mind,  than  can  be  supposed  in  a  sick,  amazed, 
timorous,  and  weak  person  ;  whose  natural  acts  are  dis- 
abled, whose  senses  are  weak,  whose  discerning  faculties 
are  lessened,  whose  principles  are  made  intricate  and  en- 
tangled, upon  whose  eye  sits  a  cloud,  and  the  heart  is 
broken  with  sickness,  and  the  liver  pierced  through  with 
sorrows  and  the  strokes  of  death.  And,  therefore,  my  Lord, 
it  is  intended  by  the  necessity  of  affairs,  that  the  precepts 
of  dying  well  be  part  of  the  studies  of  them  that  live  in 
health,  and  the  days  of  discourse  and  understanding,  which 
in  this  case,  hath  another  degree  of  necessity  superadded ; 
Ijecause  in  other  notices,  an  imperfect  study  may  be  sup- 
plied by  a  frequent  exercise  and  renewed  experience  ;  here, 
if  we  practice  imperfectly  once,  we  shall  never  recover  the 
error :  for  w^e  die  but  once  ;  and  therefore  it  will  be  neces- 
sary that  our  skill  be  more  exact,  since  it  is  not  to  be 
mended  by  trial,  but  the  actions  must  be  for  ever  left  im- 
!)erfect;  unless  the  habit  be  contracted  with  study  and  con- 
templation beforehand. 

And  indeed  I  were  vain,  if  I  should  intend  this  book  to 
be  read  and  studied  by  dying  persons :  and  they  were 
vainer,  that  should  need  to  be  instructed  in  those  graces, 
which  they  are  theil  to  exercise  and  to  finish.  For  a  sick 
bed  is  only  a  school  of  severe  exercise,  in  which  the  spirit 
of  a  man  is  tried,  and  his  graces  are  rehearsed:  and  the 
assistances,  which  I  have,  in  the  following  pages,  given  to 
those  virtues,  which  are  proper  to  the  state  of  sickness,  are 
guch,  as  suppose  a  man  in  the  state  of  grace ;  or  they  con- 
firm a  good  man,  or  they  support  the  weak,  or  add  de- 
grees, or  minister  comfort,  or  prevent  an  evil,  or  cure  the 
little  mischiefs  which  are  incident  to  tempted  persons  in 
their  weakness.  That  is  the  sum  of  the  present  design, 
as  it  relates  to  dying  persons.  And  therefore  I  have  not 
inserted  any  advices  proper  to  old  age,  but  such  as  are 
common  to  it  and  the  state  of  sickness ;  for  I  suppose  very 
old  age  to  be  a  longer  sickness ;  it  is  labour  and  sorrow, 
when  it  goes  beyond  the  common  period  of  nature  :  but  if 
a  2  2  d2 


6  DEDICATION. 

it  be  on  this  side  that  period,  and  be  healthful ;  in  the  same 
degree  it  is  so,  I  reckon  it  in  the  accounts  of  life  :  and 
therefore  it  can  have  no  distinct  consideration.  But  I  do 
not  think  it  is  a  station  of  advantage  to  begin  the  change 
of  an  evil  life  in  :  it  is  a  middle  state  between  life  and 
death-bed ;  and,  therefore,  although  it  hath  more  of  hopes 
than  this,  and  less  than  that :  yet  as  it  partakes  of  either 
state,  so  it  is  to  be  regulated  by  the  advices  of  that  state, 
and  judged  by  its  sentences. 

Only  this :  I  desire,  that  all  old  persons  would  sadly 
consider,  that  their  advantages  in  that  state  are  very  few, 
but  their  inconveniences  are  not  few ;  their  bodies  are 
without  strength,  their  prejudices  long  and  mighty,  their 
vices  (if  they  have  lived  wicked)  are  habitual,  the  occasions 
of  the  virtues  not  many,  the  possibilities  of  some  (in  the 
matter  of  w^hich  they  stand  very  guilty)  are  past,  and  shall 
never  return  again  (such  are,  chastity,  and  many  parts  of 
self-denial:)  that  they  have  some  temptations  proper  to 
their  age,  as  peevishness  and  pride,  covetousness  and  talk- 
ing, wilfulness  and  unwillingness  to  learn;  and  they  think, 
they  are  protected  by  age  from  learning  a  new,  or  repent- 
ing the  old  :  and  do  not  leave,  but  change  their  vices  :  and 
after  all  this,  either  the  day  of  their  repentance  is  past,  as 
we  see  it  true  in  very  many ;  or  it  is  expiring  and  towards 
the  sun-set,  as  it  is  in  all ;  and,  therefore,  although  in  these 
to  recover  is  very  possible,  yet  we  may  also  remember, 
that,  in  the  matter  of  virtue  and  repentance,  possibility  is 
a  great  way  off  from  performance :  and  how  few  do  repent, 
of  whom  it  is  only  possible,  that  they  may  !  and  that  many 
things  more  are  required  to  reduce  their  possibility  to  act  ; 
a  great  grace,  an  assiduous  ministry,  an  effective  calling, 
mighty  assistances,  excellent  counsel,  great  industry,  a 
watchful  diligence,  a  well-disposed  mind,  passionate  de- 
sires, deep  apprehensions  of  danger,  quick  perceptions  of 
duty,  and  time,  and  God's  good  blessing,  and  effectual  im- 
pression, and  seconding  all  this,  that  to  will  and  to  do,  may, 
by  him,  be  wrought  to  great  purposes,  and  Avith  great  speed. 

And,  therefore,  it  will  not  be  amiss,  but  it  is  hugely  ne- 
cessary, that  these  persons  who  have  lost  their  time  and 
their  blessed  opportunities  should  have  the  diligence  of 
youth,  and  the  zeal  of  new  converts,  and  take  account  of 
every  hour  that  is  left  them,  and  pray  perpetually,  and  be 
advised  prudently,  and  study  the  interest  of  their  souk 


DEDICATION.  7 

carefully,  with  diligence,  and  with  fear;  and  their  old  age, 
which  in  elfcct  is  nothing  but  a  continual  death-bed,  dressed 
with  some  more  order  and  advantages,  may  be  a  state  of 
hope,  and  labour,  and  acceptance;  through  the  infinite  mer- 
cies of  God,  in  Jesus  Christ. 

But  concerning  sinners  really  under  the  arrest  of  death, 
God  hath  made  no  death-bed  covenant,  the  Scripture  hath 
recorded  no  promises,  given  no  instructions  ;  and  there- 
fore I  had  none  to  give,  but  only  the  same  which  are  to 
be  given  to  all  men,  that  are  alive,  because  they  are  so, 
and  because  it  is  uncertain  when  they  shall  be  otherwise. 
But  then  this  advice  I  also  am  to  insert.  That  they  are  the 
smallest  number  of  Christian  men,  who  can  be  divided  by 
the  characters  of  a  certain  holiness,  or  an  open  villany : 
and  between  these  there  are  many  degrees  of  latitude,  and 
most  are  of  a  middle  sort,  concerning  which  we  are  tied 
to  make  the  judgments  of  charity,  and  possibly  God  may 
do  too.  But,  however,  all  they  are  such,  to  whom  the 
Rules  of  Holy  Dying  are  useful  and  applicable,  and  there- 
fore no  separation  is  to  be  made  in  this  world.  But  where 
the  case  is  not  evident,  men  are  to  be  permitted  to  the  un- 
erring judgment  of  God ;  where  it  is  evident,  we  can  re- 
joice or  mourn  for  them  that  die. 

In  the  church  of  Rome,  they  reckon  otherwise  concern- 
ing sick  and  dying  Christians,  than  I  have  done.  For 
they  make  profession,  that  from  death  to  life,  from  sin  to 
grace,  a  man  may  very  certainly  be  changed,  though  the 
operation  begin  not  before  his  last  hour ;  and  half  this  they 
do  upon  his  death-bed,  and  the  other  half  when  he  is  in 
his  grave  ;  and  they  take  away  the  eternal  punishment  in 
an  instant,  by  a  school-distinction,  or  the  hand  of  the 
priest;  and  the  temporal  punishment  shall  stick  longer, 
even  then,  when  the  man  is  no  more  measured  wdth  time, 
having  nothing  to  do  with  any  thing  of,  or  under,  the  sun ; 
but  that  they  pretend  to  take  away  too,  when  the  man  is 
dead;  and,  God  knows,  the  poor  man,  for  all  this,  pays 
them  both  in  hell.  The  distinction  of  temporal  and  eter- 
nal is  a  just  measure  of  pain,  w^hen  it  refers  to  this  life  and 
another :  but  to  dream  of  a  punishment  temporal,  when 
all  his  time  is  done,  and  to  think  of  repentance,  when  the 
time  of  grace  is  past,  are  great  errors,  the  one  in  philoso- 
phy, and  both  in  divinity,  and  are  a  huge  folly  in  their  pre- 
tence, and  infinite  danger  if  they  are  believed;  being  a 


8  DEDICATION. 

certain  destruction  of  the  necessity  of  holy  living,  when 
men  dare  trust  them,  and  live  at  the  rate  of  such  doctrines, 
the  secret  of  these  is  soon  discovered  :  for  by  such  means 
though  a  holy  life  be  not  necessary,  yet  a  priest  is :  as  if 
God  did  not  appoint  the  priest  to  minister  to  holy  living, 
but  to  excuse  it ;  so  making  the  holy  calling  not  only  to 
live  upon  the  sins  of  the  people,  but  upon  their  ruin,  and 
the  advantages  of  their  function  to  spring  from  their  eter- 
nal dangers.  It  is  an  evil  craft  to  serve  a  temporal  end 
upon  the  death  of  souls  ;  that  is  an  interest  not  to  be  han- 
dled but  with  nobleness  and  ingenuity,  fear  and  caution, 
diligence  and  prudence,  with  great  skill  and  great  honesty, 
with  reverence,  and  trembling,  and  severity  :  a  soul  is  worth 
all  that,  and  the  need  we  have  requires  all  that ;  and  there- 
fore those  doctrines,  that  go  less  than  all  this,  are  not  friendly 
because  they  are  not  safe. 

I  know  no  other  difference  in  the  visitation  and  treating 
of  sick  persons,  than  what  depends  upon  the  article  of  late 
repentance :  for  all  churches  agree  in  the  same  essential 
propositions,  and  assist  the  sick  by  the  same  internal  mi- 
nistries. As  for  external,  I  mean  unction,  used  in  the 
church  of  Rome,  since  it  is  used  when  the  man  is  above 
half  dead,  when  he  can  exercise  no  act  of  understanding, 
it  must  needs  be  nothing :  for  no  rational  man  can  think, 
that  any  ceremony  can  make  a  spiritual  change,  without  a 
spiritual  act  of  him  that  is  to  be  changed ;  nor  work  by 
way  of  nature,  or  by  charm,  but  morally,  and  after  the 
manner  of  reasonable  creatures  ;  and  therefore  I  do  not 
think  that  ministry  at  all  fit  to  be  reckoned  among  the  ad- 
vantages of  sick  persons.  The  fathers  of  the  council  of 
Trent  first  disputed,  and  after  this  manner  at  last  agreed, 
that  extreme  unction  was  instituted  by  Christ.  But  after- 
ward, being  admonished  by  one  of  their  thcologues,  that 
the  apostles  ministered  unction  to  infirm  people,  before  they 
were  priests  (the  priestly  order,  according  to  their  doctrine, 
being  collated  in  the  institution  of  the  last  supper,)  for  fear 
that  it  should  be  thought,  that  this  unction  might  be  ad- 
ministered by  him  that  was  no  priest,  they  blotted  out  the 
word  instituted,  and  put  in  its  stead  insinuated,  this  sacra- 
ment, and  that  it  was  published  by  St.  James.  So  it  is  in 
their  doctrine :  and  yet,  in  their  anathematisms,  they 
curse  all  them  that  shall  deny  it  to  have  been  instituted  by 
Christ.     I  shall  lay  no  more  prejudice  against  it,  or  the 


DEDICATION.  9 

weak  arts  of  them  that  maintain  it,  but  add  tliis  only,  that 
there  being  but  two  phiccs  of  Scripture  pretended  for  this 
ceremony,  some  cliief  men  of  tiieir  own  side  have  pro- 
claimed these  two  invalid  as  to  the  institution  of  it ;  for 
Suarez  says,  that  the  unction  used  by  the  apostle  in  St. 
Mark  vi.  13,  is  not  the  same  with  what  is  used  in  the  church 
of  Rome ;  and  that  it  cannot  be  plainly  gathered  from  the 
Epistle  of  St.  James,  Cajetan  affirms,  and  that  it  did  be- 
long to  the  miraculous  gift  of  healing,  not  to  a  sacrament. 
The  sick  man's  exercise  of  grace  formerly  acquired,  his 
perfecting  repentance  begun  in  the  days  of  health,  the 
prayers  and  counsels  of  the  holy  man  that  ministers,  the 
giving  the  holy  sacrament,  the  ministry  and  assistance  of 
angels,  and  the  mercies  of  God,  the  peace  of  conscience, 
and  the  peace  of  the  church,  are  all  the  assistances  and 
preparatives  that  can  help  to  dress  his  lamp.  But  if  a  man 
shall  go  to  buy  oil,  when  the  bridegroom  comes,  if  his  lamp 
be  not  first  furnished  and  then  trimmed,  that  in  this  life, 
this  upon  his  death-bed,  his  station  will  be  without  doors, 
his  portion  with  unbelievers,  and  the  unction  of  the  dying 
man  shall  no  more  strengthen  his  soul  than  it  cures  his 
body,  and  the  prayers  for  him  after  his  death  shall  be  of 
the  same  force,  as  if  they  should  pray,  that  he  should  re- 
turn to  life  again  the  next  day,  and  live  as  long  as  Lazarus 
in  his  return.  But  I  consider,  that  it  is  not  well  that  men 
should  pretend  any  thing  will  do  a  man  good,  when  he 
dies  ;  and  yet  the  same  ministries  and  ten  times  more  as- 
sistances are  found  for  forty  or  fifty  years  together  to  be 
ineffectual.  Can  extreme  unction  at  last  cure,  what  the 
holy  sacrament  of  the  eucharist,  all  his  lifetime,  could 
not  do  ?  Can  prayers  for  a  dead  man  do  him  more  good 
than  when  he  was  alive  ?  If  all  his  days  the  man  belonged 
to  death  and  the  dominion  of  sin,  and  from  thence  could 
not  be  recovered  by  sermons,  and  counsels,  and  perpetual 
precepts,  and  frequent  sacraments,  by  confessions  and  ab- 
solutions, by  prayers  and  advocations,  by  external  minis- 
tries and  internal  acts,  it  is  but  too  certain,  that  his  lamp 
cannot  then  be  furnished  :  his  extreme  unction  is  only  then 
of  use,  when  it  is  made  by  the  oil  that  burned  in  his  lamp, 
in  all  the  days  of  his  expectation  and  waiting  for  the  coming 
of  the  bridegroom. 

Neither  can  any  supply  be  made  in  this  case  by  their 
practice  of  praying  for  the  dead  ;  though  they  pretend  for 


10  DEDICATION. 

this  the  fairest  precedents  of  the  church  and  of  the  whole 
workl.  The  heathens,  they  say,  did  it,  and  the  Jews  did 
it,  and  the  Christians  did  it ;  some  were  baptized  for  the 
dead  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  very  many  were  com- 
municated for  the  dead  for  so  many  ages  after.  It  is  true, 
they  were  so,  and  did  so :  the  heathens  prayed  for  an  easy 
grave,  and  a  perpetual  spring,  that  saffron  would  rise  from 
their  beds  of  grass.  The  Jews  prayed,  that  the  souls  of 
their  dead  might  be  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  that  they  might 
have  their  part  in  Paradise,  and  in  the  world  to  come  ;  and 
that  they  might  hear  the  peace  of  the  fathers  of  their  ge- 
neration, sleeping  in  Hebron.  And  the  Christians  prayed 
for  a  joyful  resurrection,  for  mercy  at  the  day  of  judgment, 
for  hastening  of  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  the  kingdom  of 
God ;  and  they  named  all  sorts  of  persons  in  their  prayers, 
.'ill,  I  mean,  but  wicked  persons,  all  but  them  that  lived 
evil  lives  :  they  named  apostles,  saints,  and  martyrs.  And 
all  this  is  so  nothing  to  their  purpose,  or  so  much  against 
it,  that  the  prayers  for  the  dead,  used  in  the  church  of 
Rome,  are  most  plainly  condemned,  because  they  are 
against  the  doctrine  and  practices  of  all  the  Avorld,  in  other 
forms,  to  other  purposes,  relying  upon  distinct  doctrines, 
until  new  opinions  began  to  arise  about  St.  Augustine's 
time,  and  changed  the  face  of  the  proposition.  Concerning 
prayer  for  the  dead,  the  church  hath  received  no  com- 
mandment from  the  Lord ;  and  therefore  concerning  it  we 
can  have  no  rules  nor  proportions,  but  from  those  imper- 
fect revelations  of  the  state  of  departed  souls,  and  the  mea- 
sures of  charity,  Avhich  can  relate  only  to  the  imperfection 
of  their  present  condition,  and  the  terrors  of  the  day  of 
judgment :  but  to  think  that  any  suppletory  to  an  evil  life 
can  be  taken  from  such  devotions,  after  the  sinners  are  dead, 
may  encourage  a  bad  man  to  sin,  but  cannot  relieve  him, 
when  he  hath. 

But,  of  all  things  in  the  world,  methinks,  men  should 
be  most  careful  not  to  abuse  dying  people  :  not  only  be- 
cause their  condition  is  pitiable,  but  because  they  shall 
soon  be  discovered,  and,  in  the  secret  regions  of  souls, 
there  shall  be  an  evil  report  concerning  those  men  who 
have  deceived  them :  and  if  we  believe  we  shall  go  to  that 
place,  where  such  reports  are  made,  we  may  fear  the  shame 
and  the  amazement  of  being  accounted  impostors  in  the 
presence  of  angels,  and  all  the  wise  holy  men  of  the  world. 


DEDICATION.  H 

To  be  erring  and  innocent,  is  hugrcly  pitiable,  and  incident 
to  mortality ;  that  we  cannot  help  :  but  to  deceive  or  to 
destroy  so  great  an  interest  as  is  that  of  a  soul,  or  to  lessen 
its  advantages,  by  giving  it  trifling  and  false  confidences, 
is  injurious  and  intolerable.  And  therefore  it  were  very 
well,  if  all  the  churches  of  the  world  would  be  extremely 
curious  concerning  their  offices  and  ministries  of  the  visi- 
tation of  the  sick  :  that  their  ministers  they  send,  be  holy 
and  prudent;  that  their  instructions  be  severe  and  safe; 
and  their  sentences  be  merciful  and  reasonable  ;  that  their 
offices  be  sufficient  and  devout;  that  their  attendances  be 
frequent  and  long;  that  their  deputations  be  special  and 
peculiar  ;  that  the  doctrines,  upon  which  they  ground  their 
offices,  be  true,  material,  and  holy  ;  that  their  ceremonies 
be  few,  and  their  advices  wary  ;  that  their  separation  be 
full  of  caution,  their  judgments  not  remiss,  their  remis- 
sions not  loose  and  dissolute ;  and  that  all  the  whole  minis- 
tration be  made  by  persons  of  experience  and  charity. 
For  it  is  a  sad  thing  to  see  our  dead  go  out  of  our  hands : 
they  live  incuriously,  and  die  without  regard ;  and  the  last 
scene  of  their  life,  which  should  be  dressed  with  all  spirit- 
ual advantages,  is  abused  by  flattery  and  easy  propositions, 
and  let  go  with  carelessness  and  folly. 

My  Lord,  I  have  endeavoured  to  cure  some  part  of  the 
evil  as  well  as  I  could,  being  willing  to  relieve  the  needs 
of  indigent  people  in  such  ways  as  I  can  ;  and  therefore 
have  described  the  duties  which  every  sick  man  may  do 
alone,  and  such,  in  which  he  can  be  assisted  by  the  minis- 
ter :  and  am  the  more  confident,  that  these  my  endeavours 
will  be  the  better  entertained,  because  they  are  the  first 
entire  body  of  directions  for  sick  and  dying  people,  that  I 
remember  to  have  been  published  in  the  church  of  Eng- 
land. In  the  church  of  Rome,  there  have  been  many  ; 
but  they  are  dressed  with  such  doctrines,  which  are  some- 
times useless,  sometimes  hurtful,  and  their  whole  design  of 
assistance,  which  they  commonly  yield,  is  at  the  best  im- 
perfect, and  the  representment  is  too  careless  and  loose  for 
so  severe  an  employment.  So  that,  in  this  affair,  I  was 
almost  forced  to  walk  alone ;  only  that  I  drew  the  rules  and 
advices  from  the  fountains  of  Scripture,  and  the  purest 
channels  of  the  primitive  church,  and  was  helped  by  some 
experience  in  the  cure  of  souls.  I  shall  measure  the  suc- 
cess of  my  labours,  not  by  popular  noises  or  the  sentences 


12  DEDICATION. 

of  curious  persons,  but  by  the  advantage  which  good  peo- 
ple may  receive.  My  work  here  is  not  to  please  the  spe- 
culative part  of  men,  but  to  minister  to  practice,  to  preach 
to  the  weary,  to  comfort  the  sick,  to  assist  the  penitent,  to 
reprove  the  confident,  to  strengthen  weak  hands  and  feeble 
knees,  having  scarce  any  other  possibilities  left  me  of  doing 
alms,  or  exercising  that  charity  by  which  we  shall  be  judged 
at  doomsday.  It  is  enough  for  me  to  be  an  underbuilder 
in  the  house  of  God,  and  I  glory  in  the  employment ;  I 
labour  in  the  foundations;  and  therefore  the  work  needs 
no  apology  for  being  plain,  so  it  be  strong  and  well  laid. 
But,  my  Lord,  as  mean  as  it  is,  I  must  give  God  thanks 
for  the  desires  and  the  strength  ;  and,  next  to  him,  to  you, 
for  that  opportunity  and  little  portion  of  leisure,  which  I 
had  to  do  it  in :  for  I  must  acknowledge  it  publicly  (and 
besides  my  prayers,  it  is  all  the  recompense  I  can  make 
you,)  my  being  quiet  I  owe  to  your  interest,  much  of  my 
support  to  your  bounty,  and  many  other  collateral  comforts 
I  derive  from  your  favour  and  nobleness.  My  Lord,  be- 
cause I  much  honour  you,  and  because  I  would  do  honour 
to  myself,  I  have  written  your  name  in  the  entrance  of  my 
book :  I  am  sure  you  will  entertain  it,  because  the  design 
related  to  your  dear  Lady,  and  because  it  may  minister  to 
your  spirit  in  the  day  of  visitation  ;  when  God  shall  call 
for  you  to  receive  your  reward  for  your  charity  and  your 
noble  piety,  by  which  you  have  not  only  endeared  very 
many  persons,  but  in  great  degrees  have  obliged  me  to  be, 

My  noblest  Lord, 
Your  Lordship's  most  thankful 

and  most  humble  servant, 

JER.  TAYLOR. 


THE 

RULE  AND  EXERCISES 

OF 

HOLY  DYING, 

6fC. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  GENERAL    PREPARATION    TOAVARDS    A    HOLY   AND    BLESSED 
DEATH  BY  WAY  OF  CONSIDERATION. 

SECTION  I. 
Consideration  of  the  Vanity  and  Shortness  of  Man^s  Life. 
A  MAN  is  a  bubble  (said  the  Greek  proverb,)  which  Lu- 
cian  represents  with  advantages  and  its  proper  circum- 
stances to  this  purpose  :  saying,  All  the  world  is  a  storm, 
and  men  rise  up  in  their  several  generations,  like  bubbles 
descending  a  Jove  pluvio,  from  God  and  the  dew  of  heaven, 
from  a  tear  and  drop  of  rain,  from  nature  and  Providence  ; 
and  some  of  these  instantly  sink  into  the  deluge  of  their  first 
parent,  and  are  hidden  in  a  sheet  of  water,  having  had  no 
other  business  in  the  world,  but  to  be  born,  that  they  might 
be  able  to  die :  others  float  up  and  down  two  or  three  turns, 
and  suddenly  disappear,  ancl  give  their  place  to  others : 
and  they  that  live  longest  upon  the  face  of  the  waters,  are 
in  perpetual  motion,  restless  and  uneasy;  and,  being 
crushed  with  the  great  drop  of  a  cloud,  sink  into  flatness 
and  a  froth ;  the  change  not  being  great,  it  being  hardly 
possible  it  should  be  more  a  nothing  than  it  was  before. 
So  is  every  man  ;  he  is  born  in  vanity  and  sin  ;  he  comes 
into  the  world  like  morning  mushrooms,  soon  thrusting  up 
their  heads  into  the  air,  and  conversing  with  their  kindred 
of  the  same  production,  and  as  soon  they  turn  into  dust 
and  forgetfulncss  :  some  of  them  without  any  other  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  but  that  they  made  their  parents 
a  little  glad,  and  very  sorrowful ;  others  ride  longer  in  the 
storm  ;  it  may  be  until  seven  years  of  vanity  be  expired, 
b  2E  13 


14  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

and  then  peradventure  the  sun  shines  hot  upon  their  heads, 
and  they  fall  into  the  shades  below,  into  the  cover  of  death 
and  darkness  of  the  grave  to  hide  them.  But  if  the  bub- 
ble stands  the  shock  of  a  bigger  drop,  and  outlives  the 
chances  of  a  child,  of  a  careless  nurse,  of  drowning  in  a 
pail  of  water,  of  being  overlaid  by  a  sleepy  servant,  or  such 
little  accidents,  then  the  young  man  dances  like  a  bubble, 
empty  and  gay,  and  shines  like  a  dove's  neck,  or  the  image 
of  a  rainbow,  which  hath  no  substance,  and  whose  very 
imagery  and  colours  are  fantastical ;  and  so  he  dances  out 
the  gaiety  of  his  youth,  and  is  all  the  while  in  a  storm,  and 
endures,  only  because  he  is  not  knocked  on  the  head  by  a 
drop  of  bigger  rain,  or  crushed  by  the  pressure  of  a  load 
of  indigested  meat,  or  quenched  by  the  disorder  of  an  ill- 
placed  humour :  and  to  preserve  a  man  alive  in  the  midst 
of  so  many  chances  and  hostilities,  is  as  great  a  miracle  as 
to  create  him ;  to  preserve  him  from  rushing  into  nothing, 
and  at  first  to  draw  him  up  from  nothing,  were  equally  the 
issues  of  an  almighty  power.  And  therefore  the  wise  men 
of  the  world  have  contended,  who  shall  best  fit  man's  con- 
dition with  words  signifying  his  vanity  and  short  abode. 
Homer  calls  a  man  "  a  leaf,"  the  smallest,  the  weakest 
piece  of  a  short-lived,  unsteady  plant.  Pindar  calls  him 
"  the  dream  of  a  shadow  :"  Another,  "  the  dream  of  the 
shadow  of  smoke."  But  St.  James  spake  by  a  more  ex- 
cellent Spirit,  saying,  "  Our  life  is  but  a  vapour,"*  viz. 
drawn  from  the  earth  by  a  celestial  influence  ;  made  of 
smoke,  or  the  lighter  parts  of  water,  tossed  with  every  wind, 
moved  by  the  motion  of  a  superior  body,  without  virtue  in 
itself,  lifted  up  on  high,  or  left  below,  according  as  it 
pleases  the  sun,  its  foster-father.  But  it  is  lighter  yet.  It 
is  but  appearing;  a  fantastic  vapour,  an  apparition,  no- 
thing real :  it  is  not  so  much  as  a  mist,  not  the  matter  of  a 
shower,  nor  substantial  enough  to  make  a  cloud  ;  but  it  is 
like  Cassiopeia's  chair,  or  Pelops'  shoulder,  or  the  circles 
of  heaven,  <?:«<vc//.:i:.,  for  which  you  cannot  have  a  word 
that  can  signify  a  verier  nothing.  And  yet  the  expression 
is  one  degree  more  made  diminutive  :  a  vapour,  and  fan- 
tastical, or  a  mere  appearance,  and  this  but  for  a  little  while 
neither;  the  very  dream,  the  phantasm  disappears  in  a 
small  time,  "  like  the  shadow  that  departeth ;  or  like  a  tale 
that  is  told;  or  as  a  dream  when  one  waketh."  A  man  is 
*  James  iv.  14. 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  15 

SO  vain,  so  unfixed,  so  perishing  a  creature,  that  he  cannot 
long  last  in  the  scene  of  fancy  :  a  man  goes  oiF,  and  is  for- 
gotten, like  the  dream  of  a  distracted  person.  The  sum 
of  all  is  this :  that  thou  art  a  man,  than  whom  there  is  not  in 
the  world  any  greater  instance  of  heights  and  declensions, 
of  lights  and  shadows,  of  misery  and  folly,  of  laughter  and 
tears,  of  groans  and  death. 

And  because  this  consideration  is  of  great  usefulness 
and  great  necessity  to  many  purposes  of  wisdom  and  the 
spirit ;  all  the  succession  of  time,  all  the  changes  in  nature, 
all  the  varieties  of  light  and  darkness,  the  thousand  thou- 
sands of  accidents  in  the  world,  and  every  contingency  to 
every  man,  and  to  every  creature,  doth  preach  our  funeral 
sermon,  and  calls  us  to  look  and  see,  how  the  old  sexton 
Time  throws  up  the  earth,  and  digs  a  grave,  where  we  must 
lay  our  sins  or  our  sorrows,  and  sow  our  bodies,  till  they 
rise  again  in  a  fair  or  an  intolerable  eternity.  Every  re- 
volution which  the  sun  makes  about  the  world,  divides 
between  life  and  death;  and  death  possesses  both  those 
portions  by  the  next  morrow  ;  and  we  are  dead  to  all  those 
months  which  we  have  already  lived,  and  we  shall  never 
live  them  over  again  :  and  still  God  makes  little  periods 
of  our  age.  First  we  change  our  world,  when  we  come 
from  the  womb  to  feel  the  w^armth  of  the  sun.  Then  we 
sleep  and  enter  into  the  image  of  death,  in  which  state  we 
are  unconcerned  in  all  the  changes  of  the  world  :  and  if 
our  mothers  or  our  nurses  die,  or  a  wild  boar  destroy  our 
vineyards,  or  our  king  be  sick,  w^e  regard  it  not,  but  during 
that  state,  are  as  disinterested,  as  if  our  eyes  were  closed 
with  the  clay  that  weeps  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  At 
the  end  of  seven  years  our  teeth  fcill  and  die  before  us,  re- 
presenting a  formal  prologue  to  the  tragedy  ;  and  still  every 
seven  years,  it  is  odds,  but  we  shall  finish  the  last  scene  : 
and  Avhen  nature,  or  chance,  or  vice,  takes  our  body  in  pieces, 
weakening  some  parts  and  loosing  others,  we  taste  the  grave 
and  the  solemnities  of  our  own  funerals,  first,  in  those 
parts  that  ministered  to  vice  ;  and  next,  in  them  that  served 
for  ornament ;  and  in  a  short  time,  even  they  that  served 
for  necessity  become  useless  and  entangled  like  the  wheels 
of  a  broken  clock.  Baldness  is  but  a  dressing  to  our  fu- 
nerals, the  proper  ornament  of  mourning,  and  of  a  person 
entered  very  far  into  the  regions  and  possession  of  death : 
and  we  have  manv  more  of  the  same  signification  :  grav 


Ig  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

hairs,  rotten  teeth,  dim  eyes,  trembling  joints,  short  breath, 
stilT  limbs,  wrinkled  skin,  short  memory,  decayed  appetite. 
Every  day's  necessity  calls  for  a  reparation  of  that  portion, 
which  death  fed  on  all  night,  when  we  lay  in  his  lap,  and 
slept  in  his  outer  chambers.  The  very  spirits  of  a  man 
prey  upon  the  daily  portion  of  bread  and  flesh,  and  every 
meal  is  a  rescue  from  one  death,  and  lays  up  for  another  ; 
and  while  we  think  a  thought,  we  die;  and  the  clock  strikes 
and  reckons  on  our  portion  of  eternity;  we  form  our  words 
with  the  breath  of  our  nostrils,  we  have  the  less  to  live  upon 
for  every  word  we  speak. 

Thus  nature  calls  us  to  meditate  of  death  by  those  things 
which  are  the  instruments  of  acting  it :  and  God,  by  all  the 
variety  of  his  providence,  makes  us  see  death  every  where, 
in  all  variety  of  circumstances,  and  dressed  up  for  all  the 
fancies,  and  the  expectation  of  every  single  person.  Na- 
ture hath  given  us  one  harvest  every  year,  but  death  hath 
two :  and  the  spring  and  the  autumn  send  throngs  of  men 
and  women  to  charnel-houses ;  and  all  the  summer  long, 
men  are  recovering  from  their  evils  of  the  spring,  till  the 
dog-days  come,  and  then  the  Sirian  star  makes  the  summer 
deadly ;  and  the  fruits  of  autumn  are  laid  up  for  all  the 
year's  provision,  and  the  man  that  gathers  them,  eats  and 
surfeits,  and  dies,  and  needs  them  not,  and  himself  is  laid 
up  for  eternity  ;  and  he  that  escapes  till  winter,  only  stays 
for  another  opportunity,  which  the  distempers  of  that  quar- 
ter minister  to  him  with  great  variety.  Thus  death  reigns 
in  all  the  portions  of  our  time.  The  autumn  with  its  fruits 
])rovides  disorders  for  us,  and  the  winter's  cold  turns  them 
into  sharp  diseases,  and  the  spring  brings  flowers  to  strew 
our  hearse,  and  the  summer  gives  green  turf  and  brambles 
to  bind  upon  our  graves.  Calentures  and  surfeit,  cold  and 
agues,  are  the  four  quarters  of  the  year,  and  all  minister  to 
death  ;  and  you  can  go  no  whither,  but  you  tread  upon  s 
dead  man's  bones. 

The  wild  fellow  in  Petronius,  that  escaped  upon  a  broken 
table  from  the  furies  of  a  shipwreck,  as  he  was  sunning 
himself  upon  the  rocky  shore,  espied  a  man  rolled  upon 
his  floating  bed  of  waves,  ballasted  with  sand  in  the  folds 
of  his  garment,  and  carried  by  his  civil  enemy,  the  sea,  to- 
wards the  shore  to  find  a  grave  :  and  it  cast  him  into  some 
sad  thoughts  :  that  peradventure  this  man's  wife,  in  some 
part  of  the  continent,  safe  and  warm,  looks  next  month  for 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  17 

the  good  man's  return  ;  or,  it  may  be,  his  son  knows  nothing 
of  the  tempest;  or  his  fatlier  tliinks  of  that  affectionate  kiss, 
which  still  is  warm  upon  the  i^ood  okl  man's  cheek,  ever 
since  he  took  a  kind  farewell;  and  he  weeps  with  joy  to 
think,  how  blessed  he  shall  be,  when  his  beloved  boy  re- 
turns into  the  circle  of  his  father's  arms.  These  are  the 
thoughts  of  mortals,  this  is  the  end  and  sum  of  all  their  de- 
signs :  a  dark  night  and  an  ill  guide,  a  boisterous  sea  and 
a  broken  cable,  a  hard  rock  and  a  rough  wind,  dashed  in 
pieces  the  fortune  of  a  whole  family,  and  they  that  shall 
weep  loudest  for  the  accident,  arc  not  yet  entered  into  the 
storm,  and  yet  have  suffered  shipwreck.  Then  looking 
upon  the  carcass,  he  knew  it,  and  found  it  to  be  the  master 
of  the  ship,  who,  the  day  before,  cast  up  the  accounts  of 
his  patrimony  and  his  trade,  and  named  the  day  when  he 
thought  to  be  at  home.  See  how  the  man  swims,  who  was  so 
angry  two  days  since ;  his  passions  are  becalmed  with  the 
storm,  his  accounts  cast  up,  his  cares  at  an  end,  his  voyage 
done,  and  his  gains  are  the  strange  events  of  death,  which 
whether  they  be  good  or  evil,  the  men,  that  are  alive,  seldom 
trouble  themselves  concerning  the  interest  of  the  dead. 

But  seas  alone  do  not  break  our  vessel  in  pieces :  every 
where  Ave  may  be  shipwrecked.  A  valiant  general,  when 
he  is  to  reap  the  harvest  of  his  crowns  and  triumphs,  fights 
u'lprosperously,  or  falls  into  a  fever  witJi  joy  and  wine,  and 
changes  his  laurel  into  cypress,  his  triumphal  chariot  to  a 
hearse ;  dying  the  night  before  he  was  appointed  to  perish, 
in  the  drunkenness  of  his  festival  joys.  It  was  a  sad  arrest 
of  the  loosenesses  and  wilder  feasts  of  the  French  court, 
Avhen  their  king  (Henry  II.)  was  killed  really  by  the  spor- 
tive image  of  a  fight.  And  many  brides  have  died  under 
the  hands  of  paranymphs  and  maidens,  dressing  them  for 
uneasy  joy,  the  new  and  undiscerned  chains  of  marriage, 
according  to  the  saying  of  Bensirah,  the  wise  Jew,  "  The 
bride  went  into  her  chamber,  and  knew  not  what  should 
befal  her  there."  Some  have  been  paying  their  vows,  and 
giving  thanks  for  a  prosperous  return  to  their  own  house, 
and  the  roof  hath  descended  upon  their  heads,  and  turned 
their  loud  religion  into  the  deeper  silence  of  a  grave.  And 
how  many  teeming  mothers  have  rejoiced  over  their  swell- 
ing wombs,  and  pleased  themselves  in  becoming  the  chan- 
nels of  blessing  to  a  family ;  and  the  midwife  hath  quickly 
bound  their  heads  and  feet,  and  carried  them  forth  to  burial ! 
b2  2  e2 


18  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

Or  else  the  birth-day  of  an  heir  hath  seen  the  coffin  of  the 
father  brought  into  the  house,  and  the  divided  mother  hath 
been  forced  to  travail  tv^ice,  with  a  painful  birth,  and  a  sad- 
der death. 

There  is  no  state,  no  accident,  no  circumstance  of  our 
life,  but  it  hath  been  soured  by  some  sad  instance  of  a 
dying  friend :  a  friendly  meeting  often  ends  in  some  sad 
mischance,  and  makes  an  eternal  parting :  and  when  the 
poet  ^schylus  was  sitting  under  the  walls  of  his  house,  an 
eagle  hovering  over  his  bald  head,  mistook  it  for  a  stone, 
and  let  fall  his  oyster,  hoping  there  to  break  the  shell,  but 
pierced  the  poor  man's  skull. 

Death  meets  us  every  where,  and  is  procured  by  every 
instrument  and  in  all  chances,  and  enters  in  at  many  doors  ; 
by  violence  and  secret  influence,  by  the  aspect  of  a  star 
and  the  stink  of  a  mist,  by  the  emissions  of  a  cloud  and 
the  meeting  of  a  vapour,  by  the  fall  of  a  chariot  and  the 
stumbling  at  a  stone,  by  a  full  meal  or  an  empty  stomach,  by 
watching  at  the  wine  or  by  watching  at  prayers,  by  the  sun 
or  the  moon ;  by  a  heat  or  a  cold,  by  sleepless  nights  or 
sleeping  days ;  by  water  frozen  into  the  hardness  and  sharp- 
ness of  a  dagger  ;  or  water  thawed  into  the  floods  of  a  river; 
by  a  hair  or  a  raisin ;  by  violent  motion  or  sitting  still ;  by 
severity  or  dissolution  ;  by  God's  mercy  or  God's  anger ;  by 
every  thing  in  providence  and  every  thing  in  manners ;  by 
every  thing  in  nature  and  every  thing  in  chance.  Eripitur 
persona,  manet  res;  Ave  take  pains  to  heap  up  things  useful 
to  our  life,  and  get  our  death  in  the  purchase ;  and  the  per- 
son is  snatched  away,  and  the  goods  remain.  And  all  this 
is  the  law  and  constitution  of  nature  ;  it  is  a  punishment  to 
our  sins,  the  unalterable  event  of  Providence,  and  the  de- 
cree of  Heaven.  The  chains  that  confine  us  to  this  condi- 
tion are  strong  as  destiny,  and  immutable  as  the  eternal 
laws  of  God. 

I  have  conversed  with  some  men  who  rejoiced  in  the 
death  or  calamity  of  others,  and  accounted  it  as  a  judg- 
ment upon  them  for  being  on  the  other  side,  and  against 
them  in  the  contention ;  but  within  the  revolution  of  a  few 
months,  the  same  man  met  with  a  more  uneasy  and  un- 
handsome death  :  which  when  I  saw,  I  wept,  and  was 
afraid ;  for  I  knew  that  it  must  be  so  with  all  men ;  for  we 
also  shall  die,  and  end  our  quarrels  and  contentions  by 
passing  to  a  final  sentence. 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  19 

SECTION  II. 
The  Consideration  reduced  to  Practice, 
It  will  be  very  material  to  our  best  and  noblest  purposes, 
if  we  represent  this  scene  of  change  and  sorrow,  a  little 
more  dressed  up  in  circumstances ;  for  so  we  shall  be  more 
apt  to  practise  those  rules,  the  doctrine  of  which  is  con- 
sequent to  this  consideration.  It  is  a  mighty  change,  that 
is  made  by  the  death  of  every  person,  and  it  is  visible  to 
us,  who  are  alive.  Reckon  but  from  the  sprightfulness 
of  youth,  and  the  fair  cheeks  and  full  eyes  of  childhood, 
from  the  vigorousness  and  strong  flexure  of  the  joints  of 
five-and-twenty,  to  the  hollowness  and  dead  paleness,  to 
the  loathsomeness  and  horror  of  a  three  days'  burial,  and 
we  shall  perceive  the  distance  to  be  very  great  and  very 
strange.  But  so  have  I  seen  a  rose  newly  springing  from  the 
clefts  of  its  hood,  and,  at  first,  it  was  fair  as  the  morning, 
and  full  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  as  a  lamb's  fleece ;  but  when 
a  ruder  breath  had  forced  open  its  virgin  modesty,  and  dis- 
mantled its  too  youthful  and  unripe  retirements,  it  began 
to  put  on  darkness,  and  to  decline  to  softness  and  the 
symptoms  of  a  sickly  age  ;  it  bowed  the  head,  and  broke 
its  stalk,  and,  at  night,  having  lost  some  of  its  leaves  and 
all  its  beauty,  it  fell  into  the  portion  of  weeds  and  outworn 
faces.  The  same  is  the  portion  of  every  man  and  every 
woman ;  the  heritage  of  worms  and  serpents,  rottenness 
and  cold  dishonour,  and  our  beauty  so  changed,  that  our 
acquaintance  quickly  know  us  not :  and  that  change  min- 
gled wdth  so  much  horror,  or  else  meets  so  with  our  fears 
and  weak  discoursings,  that  they  who,  six  hours  ago, 
tended  upon  us,  either  with  charitable  or  ambitious  ser- 
vices, cannot,  without  some  regret,  stay  in  the  room  alone, 
where  the  body  lies  stripped  of  its  life  and  honour.  I  have 
read  of  a  fair  young  German  gentleman,  who,  living,  often 
refused  to  be  pictured,  but  put  ofl"  the  importunity  of  his 
friends'  desire,  by  giving  way,  that,  after  a  few  days  burial, 
they  might  send  a  painter  to  his  vault,  and,  if  they  saw 
cause  for  it,  draw  the  image  of  his  death  unto  the  life. 
They  did  so,  and  found  his  face  half  eaten,  and  his  midrifl" 
and  backbone  full  of  serpents ;  and  so  he  stands  pictured 
among  his  armed  ancestors.  So  does  the  fairest  beauty 
change,  and  it  will  be  as  bad  with  you  and  me :  and  then, 
what  servants  shall  we  have  to  wait  upon  us  in  the  grave  1 


20  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

what  friends  to  visit  us  ?  what  officious  people  to  cleanse 
away  the  moist  and  unwholesome  cloud  reflected  upon  our 
faces  from  the  sides  of  the  weeping  vaults,  which  are 
longest  weepers  for  our  funeral? 

This  discourse  will  be  useful,  if  we  consider  and  prac- 
tise by  the  following  rules  and  considerations  respectively. 

1.  All  the  rich  and  all  the  covetous  men  in  the  world 
will  perceive,  and  all  the  world  will  perceive  for  them,  that 
it  is  but  an  ill  recompense  for  all  their  cares,  that,  by  this 
time,  all  that  shall  be  left,  will  be  this,  that  the  neighbours 
shall  say,  "  He  died  a  rich  man ;"  and  yet  his  wealth  will  not 
profit  him  in  the  grave,  but  hugely  swell  the  sad  accounts  of 
doomsday.  And  he  that  kills  the  Lord's  people  with  unjust 
or  ambitious  wars  for  an  unrewarding  interest,  shall  have  this 
character,  that  he  threw  away  all  the  days  of  his  life,  that  one 
year  might  be  reckoned  with  his  name,  and  computed  by  his 
reign  or  consulship:  and  many  men,  by  great  labours  and 
affronts,  many  indignities  and  crimes,  labour  only  for  a  pomp- 
ous epitaph,  and  a  loud  title  upon  their  marble  ;  whilst  those, 
into  whose  possessions  their  heirs  or  kindred  are  entered, 
are  forgotten,  and  lie  unregarded  as  their  ashes,  and  with- 
out concernment  or  relation,  as  the  turf  upon  the  face  of 
their  grave.  A  man  may  read  a  sermon,  the  best  and  most 
passionate  that  ever  man  preached,  if  he  shall  but  enter 
into  the  sepulchres  of  kings.  In  the  same  Escurial,  where 
the  Spanish  princes  live  in  greatness  and  power,  and  de- 
cree war  or  peace,  they  have  wisely  placed  a  cemetery, 
where  their  ashes  and  their  glory  shall  sleep  till  time  shall 
be  no  more  :  and  where  our  kings  have  been  crowned, 
their  ancestors  lie  interred,  and  they  must  walk  over  their 
grandsire's  head  to  take  his  crown.  There  is  an  acre  sown 
with  royal  seed,  the  copy  of  the  greatest  change,  from  rich 
to  naked,  from  ceiled  roofs  to  arched  coffins,  from  living 
like  gods  to  die  like  men.  There  is  enough  to  cool  the 
flames  of  lust,  to  abate  the  heights  of  pride,  to  appease  the 
itch  of  covetous  desires,  to  sully  and  dash  out  the  dissem- 
bling colours  of  a  lustful,  artificial,  and  imaginary  beauty. 
There  the  warlike  and  the  peaceful,  the  fortunate  and 
the  miserable,  the  beloved  and  the  despised,  princes 
mingle  their  dust,  and  pay  down  their  symbol  of  mor- 
tality, and  tell  all  the  world,  that,  when  we  die,  our  ashes 
shall  be  equal  to  kings',  and  our  accounts  easier,  and  our 
pains  for  our  crown  shall  be  less.     To  my  apprehension, 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  21 

it  is  a  sad  record  which  is  left  by  Athenaeus  conccrniiif^ 
Ninus,  the  great  Assyrian  monarch,  whose  life  and  deatii 
are  summed  up  in  these  words :  "  Ninus,  the  Assyrian, 
had  an  ocean  of  gold,  and  other  riches  more  than  the  sand 
in  the  Caspian  sea ;  he  never  saw  the  stars,  and  perhaps 
he  never  desired  it :  he  never  stirred  up  the  holy  fire 
among  the  Magi,  nor  touched  his  god  with  the  sacred  rod 
according  to  the  laws :  he  never  oliered  sacrifice,  nor  wor- 
shipped the  deity,  nor  administered  justice,  nor  spake  to 
his  pcoj)lc,  nor  numbered  them;  but  he  was  most  valiant 
to  eat  and  drink,  and,  having  mingled  his  wines,  he  threw 
the  rest  upon  the  stones.  This  man  is  dead  :  behold  his 
sepulchre  ;  and  now  hear  where  Ninus  is.  Sometimes  I 
was  Ninus,  and  drew  the  breath  of  a  living  man  ;  but  now 
am  nothing  but  clay.  I  have  nothing,  but  what  I  did  eat, 
and  what  I  served  to  myself  in  lust,  that  was  and  is  all  my 
portion.  The  wealth  with  which  I  was  esteemed  blessed, 
my  enemies  meeting  together  shall  bear  away,  as  the  mad 
Thyades  carry  a  raw  goat.  I  am  gone  to  hell ;  and  when 
I  went  thither,  I  neither  carried  gold,  nor  horse,  nor  silver 
chariot.  I  that  wore  a  mitre,  am  now  a  little  heap  of  dust." 
I  know  not  any  thing,  that  can  better  represent  the  evil 
condition  of  a  wicked  man,  or  a  changing  greatness.  From 
the  greatest  secular  dignity  to  dust  and  ashes  his  nature 
bears  him,  and  from  thence  to  hell  his  sins  carry  him,  and 
there  he  shall  be  for  ever  under  the  dominion  of  chains  and 
devils,  wrath  and  an  intolerable  calamity.  This  is  the  re- 
ward of  an  unsanctitied  condition,  and  a  greatness  ill  gotten 
or  ill  administered. 

2.  Let  no  man  extend  his  thoughts,  or  let  his  hopes 
wander  towards  future  and  far-distant  events  and  acci- 
dental contingencies.  This  day  is  mine  and  yours,  but 
ye  know  not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow :  and  every  morn- 
ing creeps  out  of  a  dark  cloud,  leaving  behind  it  an  igno- 
rance and  silence  deep  as  midnight,  and  undiscerned  as 
are  the  phantasms  that  make  a  chrisom-child  to  smile  :  so 
that  we  cannot  discern  what  comes  hereafter,  unless  we 
had  a  light  from  heaven  brighter  than  the  vision  of  an 
angel,  even  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  Without  revelation, 
we  cannot  tell,  whether  we  shall  eat  to-morrow,  or  whether 
a  squinancy  shall  choke  us  :  and  it  is  written  in  the  unre- 
vealed  folds  of  Divine  predestination,  that  many,  who  are 
this  day  alive,  shall  to-morrow  be  laid  upon  the  cold  earth, 


22  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

and  the  women  shall  weep  over  their  shroud,  and  dress 
them  for  their  funeral.  St.  James,  in  his  epistle,  notes  the 
folly  of  some  men,  his  contemporaries,  who  were  so  impa- 
tient of  the  event  of  to-morrow,  or  the  accidents  of  next 
year,  or  the  good  or  evils  of  old  age,  that  they  would  con- 
sult astrologers  and  witches,  oracles  and  devils,  what 
should  befall  them  the  next  Calends  :  what  should  be  the 
event  of  such  a  voyage,  what  God  had  written  in  his  book 
concerning  the  success  of  battles,  the  election  of  emperors, 
the  heirs  of  families,  the  price  of  merchandise,  the  return 
of  the  Tyrian  fleet,  the  rate  of  Sidonian  carpets :  and  as 
they  were  taught  by  the  crafty  and  lying  demons,  so  they 
would  expect  the  issue  ;  and  oftentimes  by  disposing  their 
affairs  in  order  towards  such  events,  really  did  produce 
some  little  accidents  according  to  their  expectation:  and 
that  made  them  trust  the  oracles  in  greater  things,  and  in 
ail.  Against  this  he  opposes  his  counsel,  that  we  should 
not  search  after  forbidden  records,  much  less  by  uncertain 
significations  ;  for  whatsoever  is  disposed  to  happen  by 
the  order  of  natural  causes  or  civil  counsels,  may  be  re- 
scinded by  a  peculiar  decree  of  Providence,  or  be  pre- 
vented by  the  death  of  the  interested  persons  :  who,  while 
their  hopes  are  full,  and  their  causes  conjoined,  and  the 
work  brought  forward,  and  the  sickle  put  into  the  harvest, 
and  the  first-fruits  offered  and  ready  to  be  eaten,  even  then, 
if  they  put  forth  their  hand  to  an  event  that  stands  but  at 
the  door,  at  that  door  their  body  may  be  carried  forth  to 
burial,  before  the  expectation  shall  enter  into  fruition. 
When  Richilda,  the  Avidow  of  Albert,  earl  of  Ebersberg, 
had  feasted  the  emperor  Henry  III.  and  petitioned  in  be- 
half of  her  nephew  Welpho,  for  some  lands  formerly  pos- 
sessed by  the  Earl  her  husband  ;  just  as  the  Emperor  held 
out  his  hand  to  signify  his  consent,  the  chamber-floor  sud- 
denly fell  under  them,  and  Richilda  falling  upon  the  edge  of 
a  bathing  vessel  was  bruised  to  death,  and  stayed  not  to  see 
her  nephew  sleep  in  those  lands,  which  the  Em{)eror  was 
reaching  forth  to  her,  and  placed  at  the  door  of  restitution. 
3.  As  our  hopes  must  be  confined,  so  must  our  designs  : 
let  us  not  project  long  designs,  crafty  plots,  and  diggings 
so  deep,  that  the  intrigues  of  a  design  shall  never  be  un- 
folded, till  our  grand-children  have  forgotten  our  virtues  or 
our  vices.  The  work  of  our  soul  is  cut  short,  facile,  sweet, 
and  plain,  and  fitted  to  the  small  portions   of  our  shorter 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  23 

life :  and  as  \vc  must  not  trouble  our  inquiry,  so  neither 
must  wc  intricate  our  labour  and  purposes  with  what  we 
shall  never  enjoy.  This  rule  does  not  forbid  us  to  plant 
orchards,  which  shall  feed  our  nephews  with  their  fruit ; 
for  by  such  provisions  they  do  something  towards  an  ima- 
ginary immortality,  and  do  charity  to  their  relatives :  but 
such  projects  are  reproved,  which  discompose  our  present 
duty  by  long  and  future  designs;  such,  which  by  casting 
our  labours  to  events  at  a  distance,  make  us  less  to  re- 
member our  death  standing  at  the  door.  Tt  is  fit  for  a 
man  to  work  for  his  day's  wages,  or  to  contrive  for  the  hire 
of  a  week,  or  to  lay  a  train  to  make  provisions  for  such  a 
time  as  is  within  our  eye,  and  in  our  duty,  and  within  the 
usual  periods  of  man's  life  ;  for  whatsoever  is  made  neces- 
sary, is  also  made  prudent:  but  while  we  plot  and  busy 
ourselves  in  the  toils  of  an  ambitious  war,  or  the  levies  of 
a  great  estate,  night  enters  in  upon  us,  and  tells  all  the 
world,  how  like  fools  we  lived,  and  how  deceived  and  mi- 
serably we  died.  Seneca  tells  of  Senecio  Cornelius,  a  man 
crafty  in  getting,  and  tenacious  in  holding  a  great  estate, 
and  one  who  was  as  diligent  in  the  care  of  his  body  as  of 
his  money,  curious  of  his  health  as  of  his  possessions,  that 
he  all  day  long  attended  upon  his  sick  and  dying  friend  ; 
but,  when  he  went  away,  was  quickly  comforted,  supped 
merrily,  went  to  bed  cheerfully,  and  on  a  sudden  being 
surprised  by  a  squinancy,  scarce  drew  his  breath  until  the 
morning,  but  by  that  time  died,  being  snatched  from  the 
torrent  of  his  fortune,  and  the  swelling  tide  of  wealth,  and 
a  likely  hope  bigger  than  the  necessities  of  ten  men.  This 
accident  was  much  noted  then  in  Rome,  because  it  happened 
in  so  great  a  fortune,  and  in  the  midst  of  wealthy  designs ; 
and  presently  it  made  wise  men  to  consider,  how  imprudent 
a  person  he  is,  who  disposes  often  years  to  come,  when  he 
is  not  lord  of  to-morrow. 

4.  Though  we  must  not  look  so  far  off,  and  pry  abroad, 
yet  we  must  be  busy  near  at  hand ;  we  must,  with  all  arts 
of  the  spirit,  seize  upon  the  present,  because  it  passes 
from  us  while  we  speak,  and  because  in  it  all  our  certainty 
does  consist.  We  must  take  our  waters  as  out  of  a  tor- 
rent and  sudden  shower,  which  will  quickly  cease  drop- 
ping from  above,  and  quickly  cease  running  in  our  chan- 
nels here  below  ;  this  instant  will  never  return  again,  and 
yet,  it  may  be,  this  instant  will  declare  or  secure  the  for- 


24  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

tune  of  a  Avhole  eternity.  The  old  Greeks  and  Romans 
taug-ht  us  the  prudence  of  this  rule  :  but  Christianity 
teaches  us  the  religion  of  it.  They  so  seized  upon  the  pre- 
sent, that  they  would  lose  nothing  of  the  day's  pleasure  ; 
"Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  shall  die  ;"  that 
was  their  philosophy ;  and  at  their  solemn  feasts,  they 
would  uilk  of  death  to  heighten  the  present  drinking,  and 
that  they  might  warm  their  veins  with  a  fuller  chalice,  as 
knowing  the  drink  that  was  poured  upon  their  graves, 
would  be  cold  and  without  relish.  "  Break  the  beds, 
drink  your  wine,  crown  your  heads  with  roses,  and  besmear 
your  curled  locks  with  nard:  for  God  bids  you  to  remember 
death  ;"  so  the  epigrammatist  speaks  the  sense  of  their 
drunken  principles.  Something  towards  this  signification 
is  that  of  Solomon,  "  There  is  nothing  better  for  a  man, 
than  that  he  should  eat  and  drink,  and  that  he  should 
make  his  soul  enjoy  good  in  his  labour ;  for  that  is  his  por- 
tion :  for  who  shall  bring  him  to  see  that  which  shall  be  after 
him  ?"*  But  although  he  concludes  all  this  to  be  vanity, 
yet  because  it  was  the  best  thing  that  Avas  then  commonly 
known,  that  they  should  seize  upon  the  present  with  a 
temperate  use  of  permitted  pleasures,  I  had  reason  to  say, 
that  Christianity  taught  us  to  turn  this  into  religion.  For 
he  that  by  a  present  and  constant  holiness  secures  the  pre- 
sent, and  makes  it  useful  to  his  noblest  purposes,  he  turns 
his  condition  into  his  best  advantage,  by  making  his  una- 
voidable fate  become  his  necessary  religion. 

To  the  purpose  of  this  rule  is  that  collect  of  Tuscan 
Hieroglyphics,  which  we  have  from  Gabriel  Simeon.  "  Our 
life  is  very  short,  beauty  is  a  cozenage,  money  is  false  and 
fugitive  ;  empire  is  odious,  and  hated  by  them  that  have  it 
not,  and  uneasy  to  them  that  have  ;  victory  is  always  uncer- 
tain, and  peace,  most  commonly,  is  but  a  fraudulent  bar- 
gain; old  age  is  miserable,  death  is  the  period,  and  is  a 
happy  one,  if  it  be  not  soured  by  the  sins  of  our  life ;  but 
nothing  continues  but  the  effects  of  that  wisdom,  Avhich 
employs  the  present  time  in  the  acts  of  a  holy  religion,  and 
a  peaceable  conscience  :"  for  they  make  us  to  live  even  be- 
yond our  funerals,  embalmed  in  the  spices  and  odours  of  a 
good  name,  and  entombed  in  the  grave  of  the  holy  Jesus, 
where  we  shall  be  dressed  for  a  blessed  resurrection  to  the 
state  of  angels  and  beatified  spirits. 

*  Eccles.  iii.  22.  ii.  24. 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  26 

5.  Since  we  stay  not  here,  being  people  but  of  a  day's 
abode,  and  our  age  is  like  that  of  a  fly,  and  contemporary 
with  a  gourd,  we  must  look  somewhere  else  for  an  abiding 
city,  a  place  in  another  country  to  fix  our  house  in,  whose 
walls  and  foundation  is  God,  where  we  must  find  rest,  or 
else  be  restless  for  ever.  For  whatsoever  ease  we  can  have 
or  fancy  here,  is  shortly  to  be  changed  into  sadness,  or 
tediousness  :  it  goes  away  too  soon,  like  the  periods  of  our 
life :  or  stays  too  long,  like  the  sorrows  of  a  sinner :  its 
own  weariness,  or  a  contrary  disturbance,  is  its  load ;  or  it 
is  eased  by  its  revolution  into  vanity  and  forgetfulness ; 
and  where  either  there  is  sorrow  or  an  end  of  joy,  there 
can  be  no  true  felicity  :  which,  because  it  must  be  had  by 
some  instrument,  and  in  some  period  of  our  duration,  we 
must  carry  up  our  affections  to  the  mansions  prepared  for 
us  above,  where  eternity  is  the  measure,  felicity  is  the 
state,  angels  are  the  company,  the  Lamb  is  the  light,  and 
God  is  the  portion  and  inheritance. 

SECTION  III. 

Rules  and  spiritual  arts  of  lengthening  our  days,  and  to 

take  of  the  objection  of  a  short  life. 

In  the  accounts  of  a  man's  life,  we  do  not  reckon  that 
portion  of  days,  in  which  we  are  shut  up  in  the  prison 
of  the  womb  ;  we  tell  our  years  from  the  day  of  our  birth : 
and  the  same  reason,  that  makes  our  reckoning  to  stay 
so  long,  says  also,  that  then  it  begins  too  soon.  For  then 
we  are  beholden  to  others  to  make  the  account  for  us :  for 
we  know  not  of  a  long  time,  whether  we  be  alive  or  no, 
having  but  some  little  approaches  and  symptoms  of  a  life. 
To  feed,  and  sleep,  and  move  a  little,  and  imperfectly,  is 
the  state  of  an  unborn  child:  and  when  he  is  born,  he 
does  no  more  for  a  good  while ;  and  what  is  it  that  shall 
make  him  to  be  esteemed  to  live  the  life  of  a  man  ?  and 
when  shall  that  account  begin  ?  For  we  shall  be  loath  to 
have  the  accounts  of  our  age  taken  by  the  measures  of  a 
beast :  and  fools  and  distracted  persons  are  reckoned  as 
civilly  dead ;  they  are  no  parts  of  the  commonwealth,  nor 
subject  to  laws,  but  secured  by  them  in  charity,  and  kept 
from  violence  as  a  man  keeps  his  ox ;  and  a  third  part  of 
our  life  is  spent,  before  we  enter  into  a  higher  order,  into 
the  state  of  a  man. 

2.  Neither  must  we  think,  that  the  life  of  a  man  begins 
c  2F 


26  GExXERAL  CON.SIDERATiO?:S 

when  he  can  feed  himself,  or  walk  alone,  when  he  can 
fight,  or  beget  his  like  ;  for  so  he  is  contemporary  with  a 
camel  or  a  cow ;  but  he  is  first  a  man,  when  he  comes  to  a 
certain,  steady  use  of  reason,  according  to  his  proportion  : 
and  when  that  is,  all  the  world  of  men  cannot  tell  precisely. 
Some  are  called  at  age,  at  fourteen ;  some,  at  one-and- 
twenty;  some,  never;  but  all  men,  late  enough:  for  the  life 
of  a  man  comes  upon  him  slowly  and  insensibly.  But  as  when 
the  sun  approaches  towards  the  gates  of  the  morning,  he  first 
opens  a  little  eye  of  heaven,  and  sends  away  the  spirits  of 
darkness,  and  gives  light  to  a  cock,  and  calls  up  the  lark  to 
m.atins,  and  by  and  by  gilds  the  fringes  of  a  cloud,  and 
peeps  over  the  eastern  hills,  thrusting  out  his  golden  horns, 
like  those  which  decked  the  brows  of  Moses,  when  he  was 
forced  to  wear  a  veil,  because  himself  had  seen  the  face  of 
God;  and  still  while  a  man  tells  the  story,  the  suns  gets 
up  higher,  till  he  shows  a  fair  face  and  full  light,  and 
then  he  shines  one  whole  day,  under  a  cloud  often,  and 
sometimes  weeping  great  and  little  shov/ers,  and  sets 
quickly  :  so  is  a  man's  reason  and  his  life.  He  first  be- 
gins to  perceive  himself  to  see  or  taste,  making  little  re- 
flections upon  his  actions  of  sense,  and  can  discourse  of 
flies  and  dogs,  shells  and  play,  horses  and  liberty :  but 
when  he  is  strong  enough  to  enter  into  arts  and  little  in- 
stitutions, he  is  at  first  entertained  with  trifles  and  imper- 
tinent things,  not  because  he  needs  them,  but  because  his 
understanding  is  no  bigger,  and  little  images  of  things  are 
laid  before  him,  like  a  cock-boat  to  a  whale,  only  to  play 
withal  :  but  before  a  man  comes  to  be  wise,  he  is  half  dead 
with  gouts  and  consumptions,  with  catarrhs  and  aches, 
with  sore  eyes  and  worn-out  body.  So  that  if  we  must  not 
reckon  the  life  of  a  man  but  by  the  accounts  of  his  reason, 
he  is  long  before  his  soul  be  dressed ;  and  he  is  not  to  be 
called  a  man  without  a  wise  and  an  adorned  soul,  a  soul 
at  least  furnished  with  what  is  necessary  towards  his  well- 
being  :  but  by  that  time  his  soul  is  thus  furnished,  his  body 
is  decayed ;  and  then  you  can  hardly  reckon  him  to  be 
alive,  when  his  body  is  possessed  by  so  many  degrees  of 
death. 

3.  But  there  is  yet  another  arrest.  At  first  he  wants 
strength  of  body,  and  then  he  wants  the  use  of  reason  : 
and  when  that  is  come,  it  is  ten  to  one,  but  he  stops  by 
the  impediments  of  vice,  and  Avants  the  strength  of  the 


PRICPARATOKY  TO  DEATH.  27 

Spirit;  and  wo  know  that  body  and  soul  and  s{)irlt  arc  the 
constituent  parts  of  every  Christian  man.  And  now  let 
us  consider  what  that  thing  is,  which  wc  call  years  of  dis- 
cretion. The  youn«ij  man  is  past  his  tutors,  and  arrived  at 
the  bondag-c  of  a  caitilf  sj)irit;  he  is  run  from  discipline, 
and  is  l(!t  loose  to  passion  ;  the  man  by  this  time  hath  wit 
enough  to  choose  his  vice,  to  act  his  lust,  to  court  his  mis- 
tress, to  talk  confidently  and  ignorantly,  and  perpetually, 
to  despise  his  betters,  to  deny  nothing  to  his  appetite,  to 
do  things,  that  when  he  is  indeed  a  man,  ho  must  for  ever 
be  ashamed  of;  for  this  is  all  the  discretion  that  most  men 
show  in  the  first  stage  of  their  manhood;  they  can  discern 
good  from  evil  ;  and  they  prove  their  skill  by  leaving  all 
that  is  good,  and  wallovv'ing  in  the  evils  of  folly  and  an  un- 
bridled appetite.  And,  by  this  time,  the  young  man  hath 
contracted  vicious  habits,  and  is  a  beast  in  manners,  and 
therefore  it  will  not  be  fitting  to  reckon  the  beginning  of 
his  life  :  he  is  a  fool  in  his  understanding,  and  that  is  a 
sad  death  ;  and  he  is  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and  that 
is  a  sadder;  so  that  he  hath  no  life  but  a  natural,  the  life  of 
a  beast  or  a  tree;  in  all  other  capacities  he  is  dead :  he  nei- 
ther hath  the  intellectual  or  the  spiritual  life,  neither  the 
life  of  a  man  nor  of  a  Christian  ;  and  this  sad  truth  lasts 
too  long.  For  old  age  seizes  upon  most  men,  while  they 
still  retain  the  minds  of  boys  and  vicious  youths,  doing  ac- 
tions from  principles  of  great  folly,  and  a  mighty  igno- 
rance, admiring  things  useless  and  hurtful,  and  filling  up 
all  the  dimensions  of  their  abode  with  businesses  of  empty 
affairs,  being  at  leisure  to  attend  no  virtue  :  they  cannot 
pray,  because  they  are  busy,  and  because  they  are  pas- 
sionate :  they  cannot  communicate,  because  they  have 
quarrels  and  intrigues  of  perplexed  causes,  complicated 
hostilities,  and  things  of  the  world ;  and  therefore  they 
cannot  attend  to  the  things  of  God;  little  considering, 
that  they  must  find  a  time  to  die  in ;  when  death  comes, 
they  must  be  at  leisure  for  that.  Such  men  are  like 
sailors  loosing  from  a  port,  and  tossed  immediately  with  a 
perpetual  tempest,  lasting  till  their  cordage  crack,  and 
either  they  sink,  or  return  back  again  to  the  same  place  : 
did  not  make  a  voyage,  though  they  were  long  at  sea.  The 
business  and  impertinent  affairs  of  most  men  steal  all  Iheir 
time,  and  they  are  restless  in  a  foolish  motion:  but  this  is 
not  the  progress  of  a  man ;  he  is  no  farther  advanced  in 


28  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

the  course  of  a  life,  though  he  reckon  many  years ;  for  still 
his  soul  is  childish,  and  trifling  like  an  untaught  boy. 

If  the  parts  of  this  sad  complaint  find  their  remedy,  we 
have  by  the  same  instruments  also  cured  the  evils  and  the 
vanity  of  a  short  life.     Therefore, 

1.  Be  infinitely  curious  you  do  not  set  back  your  life  in 
the  accounts  of  God  by  the  intermingling  of  criminal  ac- 
tions, or  the  contracting  vicious  habits.  There  are  some 
vices,  which  carry  a  sword  in  their  hand,  and  cut  a  man  off 
before  his  time.  There  is  a  sword  of  the  Lord,  and  there 
is  a  sword  of  a  man,  and  there  is  a  sword  of  the  devil. 
Every  vice  of  our  own  managing  in  the  matter  of  carnality, 
of  lust  or  rage,  ambition  or  revenge,  is  a  sword  of  Satan 
put  into  the  hands  of  a  man :  these  are  the  destroying  an- 
gels ;  sin  is  the  Apollyon,  the  destroyer  that  is  gone  out, 
not  from  the  Lord,  but  from  the  tempter ;  and  we  hug  the 
poison,  and  twist  willingly  with  the  vipers,  till  they  bring 
us  into  the  regions  of  an  irrecoverable  sorrow.  We  use  to 
reckon  persons  as  good  as  dead,  if  they  have  lost  their  limbs 
and  their  teeth,  and  are  confined  to  an  hospital,  and  con- 
verse with  none  but  surgeons  and  physicians,  mourners 
and  divines,  those  pollinctores,  the  dressers  of  bodies  and 
souls  to  funeral :  but  it  is  worse  when  the  soul,  the  prin- 
ciple of  life,  is  employed  wholly  in  the  offices  of  death: 
and  that  man  was  worse  than  dead,  of  whom  Seneca  tells, 
that  being  a  rich  fool,  when  he  was  lifted  up  from  the  baths 
and  set  into  a  soft  couch,  asked  his  slaves,  A?i  ego  jam  sedeo  ? 
Do  I  now  sit?  The  beast  was  so  drowned  in  sensuality  and 
the  death  of  his  soul,  that,  whether  he  did  sit  or  no,  he  was 
to  believe  another.  Idleness  and  every  vice  are  as  much 
of  death  as  a  long  disease  is,  or  the  expense  of  ten  years  : 
and  "  she,  that  lives  in  pleasures,  is  dead,  while  she  liveth" 
(saith  the  apostle  ;)  and  it  is  the  style  of  the  Spirit  con- 
cerning wicked  persons,  "  they  are  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins."  For  as  every  sensual  pleasure  and  every  day  of 
idleness  and  useless  living  lops  off  a  little  branch  from  our 
short  life  ;  so  every  deadly  sin  and  every  habitual  vice 
does  quite  destroy  us :  but  innocence  leaves  us  in  our  na- 
tural portions,  and  perfect  period  ;  we  lose  nothing  of  our 
life  if  we  lose  nothing  of  our  soul's  health  ;  and  therefore 
he  that  would  live  a  full  age,  must  avoid  a  sin,  as  he  would 
decline  the  regions  of  death  and  the  dishonours  of  the  grave. 

2.  If  we  would  have  our  life  lengthened,  let  us  begin  be- 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  29 

times  to  live  in  the  accounts  of  reason  and  sol)cr  counsels, 
of  religion  and  the  spirit,  and  then  we  shall  have  no  reason 
to  complain  that  our  abode  on  earth  is  so  short:  many  men 
find  it  long  enough,  and  indeed  it  is  so  to  all  senses.  But 
when  we  spend  in  waste  what  God  hath  given  us  in  plenty, 
when  we  sacrifice  our  youth  to  folly,  our  manhood  to  lust 
and  rage,  our  old  age  to  covetousness  and  irrcligion,  not 
beginning  to  live  till  we  are  to  die,  designing  that  time  to 
virtue  which  indeed  is  infirm  to  every  thing  and  profitable 
to  nothing ;  then  we  make  our  lives  short,  and  lust  runs 
away  with  all  the  vigorous  and  healthful  part  of  it,  and 
pride  and  animosity  steal  the  manly  })ortion,  and  crafti- 
ness and  interest  possess  old  age  ;  veliit  ex  pleno  et  abun- 
danti  perdimus,  we  spend  as  if  we  had  too  much  time,  and 
knew  not  what  to  do  with  it :  we  fear  every  thing,  like 
weak  and  silly  mortals ;  and  desire  strangely  and  greedily, 
as  if  we  were  immortal :  we  complain  our  life  is  short,  and 
yet  we  throw  away  much  of  it,  and  are  weary  of  many  of 
its  parts  :  we  complain  the  day  is  long,  and  the  night  is 
long,  and  we  want  company,  and  seek  out  arts  to  drive 
the  time  away,  and  then  weep,  because  it  is  gone  too  soon. 
But  so  the  treasure  of  the  capitol  is  but  a  small  estate, 
when  Caesar  comes  to  finger  it,  and  to  pay  with  it  all  his 
legions :  and  the  revenue  of  all  Egypt  and  the  eastern  pro- 
vinces was  but  a  little  sum,  when  they  were  to  support  the 
luxury  of  Mark  Antony,  and  feed  the  riot  of  Cleopatra  ; 
but  a  thousand  crowns  is  a  vast  proportion  to  be  spent  in 
the  cottage  of  a  frugal  person,  or  to  feed  a  hermit.  Just  so 
is  our  life  :  too  short  to  serve  the  ambition  of  a  haughty 
prince,  or  an  usurping  rebel ;  too  little  time  to  purchase 
great  wealth,  to  satisfy  the  pride  of  a  vain-glorious  fool,  to 
trample  upon  all  the  enemies  of  our  just  or  unjust  inter- 
est :  but  for  the  obtaining  virtue,  for  the  purchase  of  so- 
briety and  modesty,  for  the  actions  of  religion,  God  gave 
us  time  sufficient,  if  we  make  the  "  outgoings  of  the  morn- 
ing and  evening,"  that  is,  our  infancy  and  old  age,  to  be 
taken  into  the  computations  of  a  man.  Which  we  may 
see  in  the  following  particulars. 

1.  If  our  childhood,  being  first  consecrafed  by  forward 
baptism,  be  seconded  by  a  holy  education,  and  a  comply- 
ing obedience  ;  if  our  youth  be  chaste  and  temperate, 
modest  and  industrious,  proceeding  through  a  prudent  and 
sober  manhood  to  a  religious  old  age  ;  then  we  have  lived 
c2  2  F  2     ^ 


30  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

our  whole  duration,  and  shall  never  die,  but  be  changed, 
in  a  just  time,  to  the  preparations  of  a  better  and  an  im- 
mortal life. 

2.  If,  besides  the  ordinary  returns  of  our  prayers  and 
periodical  and  festival  solemnities,  and  our  seldom  com- 
munions, we  would  allow  to  religion  and  the  studies  of 
wisdom  those  great  shares,  that  are  trifled  away  upon  vain 
sorrow,  foolish  mirth,  troublesome  ambition,  busy  covet- 
ousness,  watchful  lust,  and  impertinent  amours,  and  balls, 
and  rcvellings,  and  banquets,  all  that  which  was  spent 
viciously,  and  all  that  time  that  lay  fallow,  and  without 
employment,  our  life  would  quickly  amount  to  a  great 
sum.  Tostatus  Abulensis  was  a  very  painful  person,  and 
a  great  clerk,  and  in  the  days  of  his  manhood  he  wrote 
so  many  books,  and  they  not  ill  ones,  that  the  world  com- 
puted a  sheet  for  every  day  of  his  life  ;  I  suppose  they 
meant,  after  he  came  to  the  use  of  reason  and  the  state 
of  a  man  ;  and  John  Scotus  died  about  the  two-and-thir- 
tieth  year  of  his  age ;  and  yet  besides  his  public  disputa- 
tions, his  daily  lectures  of  divinity  in  public  and  private, 
the  books  that  he  wrote,  being  lately  collected  and  printed 
at  Lyons,  do  equal  the  number  of  volumes  of  any  two  the 
most  voluminous  fathers  of  the  Latin  church.  Every  man 
is  not  enabled  to  such  employments,  but  every  man  is 
called  and  enabled  to  the  works  of  a  sober  and  a  religious 
life ;  and  there  are  many  saints  of  God,  that  can  reckon  as 
many  volumes  of  religion  and  mountains  of  piety,  as  those 
others  did  of  good  books.  St.  Ambrose  (and  I  think,  from 
his  example,  St.  Augustine)  divided  every  day  into  three 
tertias  of  employment :  eight  hours  he  spent  in  the  neces- 
sities of  nature  and  recreation ;  eight  hours  in  charity  and 
doing  assistance  to  others,  despatching  their  businesses,  re- 
conciling their  enmities,  reproving  their  vices,  correcting 
their  errors,  instructing  their  ignorances,  transacting  the 
affairs  of  his  diocess ;  and  the  other  eight  hours  he  spent 
in  study  and  prayer.  If  we  were  thus  minute  and  curious 
in  the  spending  our  time,  it  is  impossible,  but  our  life  would 
seem  very  long.  For  so  have  I  seen  an  amorous  person  tell 
the  minutes  of  his  absence  from  his  fancied  joy,  and  while 
he  told  the  sands  of  his  hour-glass,  or  the  throbs  and  little 
beatings  of  his  watch,  by  dividing  an  hour  into  so  many 
members,  he  spun  out  its  length  by  number,  and  so  trans- 
lated a  day  into  the  tediousness  of  a    month.     And  if  we 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  31 

tell  our  days  by  canonical  hours  of  prayer,  our  weeks  by  a 
constant  revolution  of  fasting-days  or  days  of  special  de- 
votion, and  over  all  these  draw  a  black  cypress,  a  veil  of 
penitential  sorrow  and  severe  mortification,  we  shall  soon 
answer  the  calumny  and  objection  of  a  short  life.  He  that 
governs  the  day  and  divides  the  hours,  hastens  from  the 
eyes  and  observation  of  a  merry  sinner ;  but  loves  to  stand 
still,  and  behold,  and  tell  the  sighs,  and  number  the  groans 
and  sadly-delicious  accents  of  a  grieved  penitent.  It  is  a 
vast  work  that  any  man  may  do,  if  he  never  be  idle  :  and  it 
is  a  huge  Avay  that  a  man  may  go  in  virtue,  if  he  never  goes 
out  of  his  way  by  a  vicious  habit  or  a  great  crime  :  and  he 
that  perpetually  reads  good  books,  if  his  parts  be  answer- 
able, will  have  a  huge  stock  of  knowledge.  It  is  so  in  all 
things  else.  Strive,  not  to  forget  your  time,  and  suffer  none 
of  it  to  pass  undiscerned ;  and  then  measure  your  life,  and 
tell  me  how  you  find  the  measure  of  its  abode.  However, 
the  time  we  live,  is  worth  the  money  we  pay  for  it ;  and 
therefore  it  is  not  to  be  thrown  away. 

3.  When  vicious  men  are  dying,  and  scared  with  the 
affrighting  truths  of  an  evil  conscience,  they  would  give  all 
the  world  for  a  year,  for  a  month ;  nay,  we  read  of  some 
that  called  out  with  amazement,  inducias  usque  ad  ma7ie, 
truce  but  till  the  morning : — and  if  that  year  or  some  few 
months  were  given,  those  men  think  they  could  do  mira- 
cles in  it.  And  let  us  awhile  suppose  what  Dives  would 
have  done,  if  he  had  been  loosed  from  the  pains  of  hell,  and 
permitted  to  live  on  earth  one  year.  Would  all  the  plea- 
sures of  the  world  have  kept  him  one  hour  from  the  temple? 
would  he  not  perpetually  have  been  under  the  hands  of 
priests,  or  at  the  feet  of  the  doctors,  or  by  Moses'  chair,  or 
attending  as  near  the  altar  as  he  could  get,  or  relieving 
poor  Lazarus,  or  praying  to  God,  and  crucifying  all  his 
sins  ?  I  have  read  of  a  melancholic  person,  who  saw  hell 
but  in  a  dream  or  vision,  and  the  amazement  was  such, 
that  he  would  have  chosen  ten  times  to  die  rather  than  feel 
again  so  much  of  that  horror :  and  such  a  person  cannot 
be  fancied,  but  that  he  would  spciul  a  year  in  such  holiness, 
that  the  religion  of  a  few  months  would  equal  the  devotion 
of  many  years,  even  of  a  good  man.  Let  us  but  compute 
the  proportions.  If  we  should  spend  all  our  years  of  rea- 
son so,  as  such  a  person  would  spend  that  one,  can  it  be 
thought  that  life  would  be  short  and  trifling,  in  which  he 


32  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

had  performed  such  a  religion,  served  God  with  so  much 
holiness,  mortified  sin  with  so  great  a  labour,  purchased 
virtue  at  such  a  rate  and  so  rare  an  industry  ?  It  must 
needs  be,  that  such  a  man  must  die  when  he  ought  to  die, 
and  be  like  ripe  and  pleasant  fruit  falling  from  a  fair  tree, 
and  gathered  into  baskets  for  the  planter's  use.  He  that 
hath  done  all  his  business,  and  is  begotten  to  a  glorious 
hope  by  the  seed  of  an  immortal  Spirit,  can  never  die  too 
soon,  nor  live  too  long. 

Xerxes  wept  sadly,  when  he  saw  his  army  of  2,300,000 
men,  because  he  considered,  that,  within  a  hundred  years, 
all  the  youth  of  that  army  should  be  dust  and  ashes  :  and 
yet,  as  Seneca  well  observes  of  him,  he  was  the  man  that 
should  bring  them  to  their  graves ;  and  he  consumed  all 
that  army  in  two  years,  for  whom  he  feared  and  wept  the 
death  after  a  hundred.  Just  so  we  do  all.  We  complain, 
that  within  thirty  or  forty  years,  a  little  more  or  a  great 
deal  less,  we  shall  descend  again  into  the  bowels  of  our 
mother,  and  that  our  life  is  too  short  for  any  great  employ- 
ment ;  and  yet  we  throw  away  five-and-thirty  years  of  our 
forty,  and  the  remaining  five  we  divide  between  art  and 
nature,  civility  and  customs,  necessity,  and  convenience, 
prudent  counsels  and  religion :  but  the  portion  of  the  last 
is  little  and  contemptible,  and  yet  that  little  is  all  that  we 
can  prudently  account  of  our  lives.  We  bring  that  fate  and 
that  death  near  us,  of  Avhose  approach  we  are  so  sadly  ap- 
prehensive. 

4.  In  taking  the  accounts  of  your  life,  do  not  reckon  by 
great  distances,  and  by  the  periods  of  pleasure,  or  the  sa- 
tisfaction of  your  hopes,  or  the  sating  your  desires  :  but 
let  every  intermedial  day  and  hour  pass  with  observation. 
He  that  reckons  he  hath  lived  but  so  many  harvests,  thinks 
they  come  not  often  enough,  and  that  they  go  aAvay  too 
soon  :  some  lose  the  day  with  longing  for  the  night,  and  the 
night  in  waiting  for  the  day.  Hope  and  fantastic  expec- 
tations spend  much  of  our  lives;  and  while  with  passion  we 
look  for  a  coronation,  or  the  death  of  an  enemy,  or  a  day 
of  joy,  passing  from  fancy  to  possession  without  any  inter- 
medial  notices,  we  throw  away  a  precious  year,  and  use  it 
but  as  the  burden  of  our  time,  fit  to  be  pared  off'  and  thrown 
away,  that  we  may  come  at  those  little  pleasures,  which 
first  steal  our  hearts,  and  then  steal  our  life. 

5.  A  strict  course  of  piety  is  the  way  to  prolong  our  lives 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  33 

in  the  natural  sense,  and  to  add  good  portions  to  the  num- 
ber of  our  years :  and  sin  is  sometimes  by  natural  casualty, 
very  often  by  the  anger  of  God,  and  the  Divine  judgment, 
a  cause  of  sudden  and  untimely  death.  Concerning  which 
I  shall  add  nothing  (to  what  I  have  somewhere  else  said  of 
this  article,*)  but  only  the  observation  of  Epiphanius;  tliat 
for  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-two  years,  even 
to  the  twentieth  age,  there  was  not  one  example  of  a  son 
that  died  before  his  father  ;  but  the  course  of  nature  was 
kept,  that  he  who  was  first  born  in  the  descending  line,  did 
first  die  (I  speak  of  natural  death,  and  therefore  Abel  can- 
not be  opposed  to  this  observation,)  till  that  Terah,  the 
father  of  Abraham  taught  the  people  a  new  religion,  to  make 
images  of  clay  and  worship  them  ;  and  concerning  him  it 
was  first  remarked,  that  "  Haran  died  before  his  father  Te- 
rah in  the  land  of  his  nativity  :"  God,  by  an  unheard-of  judg- 
ment and  a  rare  accident  punishing  his  newly-invented  crime 
by  the  untimely  death  of  his  son. 

6.  But  if  I  shall  describe  a  living  man,  a  man  that  hath 
that  life  that  distinguishes  him  from  a  fool  or  a  bird,  that 
which  gives  him  a  capacity  next  to  angels,  we  shall  find 
that  even  a  good  man  lives  not  long,  because  it  is  long  be- 
fore he  is  born  to  this  life,  and  longer  yet  before  he  hath  a 
man's  growth.  "  He  that  can  look  upon  death,  and  see  its 
face  with  the  same  countenance,  with  which  he  hears  its 
story  ;  that  can  endure  all  the  labours  of  his  life  with  his 
soul  supporting  his  body  ;  that  can  equally  despise  riches, 
when  he  hath  them,  and  when  he  hath  them  not ;  that  is 
not  sadder,  if  they  lie  in  his  neighbour's  trunks,  nor  more 
brag,  if  they  shine  round  about  his  own  walls  :  he  that  is 
neither  moved  with  good  fortune  coming  to  him,  nor  going 
from  him ;  that  can  look  upon  another  man's  lands  evenly 
and  pleasedly,  as  if  they  were  his  own,  and  yet  look  upon 
his  own,  and  use  them  too,  just  as  if  they  were  another 
man's ;  that  neither  spends  his  goods  prodigally  and  like 
a  fool,  nor  yet  keeps  them  avariciously  and  like  a  wretch  ; 
that  weighs  not  benefits  by  weight  and  number,  but  by  the 
mind  and  circumstances  of  him  that  gives  them  :  that  never 
thinks  his  charity  expensive,  if  a  worthy  person  be  the  re- 
ceiver ;  he  that  does  nothing  for  opinion  sake,  but  every 
thing  for  conscience,  being  as  curious  of  his  thoughts  as 
of  his  acting  in  markets  and  theatres,  and  is  as  much  in 
*  Life  of  Christ,  part  jii.  Disc  14. 


34  GENERAL  CON SJ DERATIONS 

awe  of  himself  as  of  a  whole  assembly  :  he  that  knows  God 
looks  on,  and  contrives  his  secret  affairs  as  in  the  presence 
of  God  and  his  holy  angels ;  that  eats  and  drinks  because 
he  needs  it,  not  that  he  may  serve  a  lust  or  load  his  belly ; 
he  that  is  bountiful  and  cheerful  to  his  friends,  and  charit- 
able and  apt  to  forgive  his  enemies ;  that  loves  his  coun- 
try, and  obeys  his  prince,  and  desires  and  endeavours  no- 
thing more  than  that  he  may  do  honour  to  God :"  this  per- 
son may  reckon  his  life  to  be  the  life  of  a  man,  and  com- 
pute his  months,  not  by  the  course  of  the  sun,  but  the  zodiac 
and  circle  of  his  virtues ;  because  these  are  such  things, 
which  fools,  and  children,  and  birds,  and  beasts,  cannot 
have  ;  these  are  therefore  the  actions  of  life,  because  they 
are  the  seeds  of  immortality.  That  day  in  which  we  have 
done  some  excellent  thing,  we  may  as  truly  reckon  to  be 
added  to  our  life,  as  were  the  fifteen  years  to  the  days  of 
Hezekiah. 

SECTION  IV. 

Consideration  of  the  Miseries  of  Man's  life. 

As  our  life  is  very  short,  so  it  is  very  miserable ;  and  there- 
fore it  is  well  it  is  short.  God  in  pity  to  mankind,  lest  his 
burden  should  be  insupportable,  and  his  nature  an  intoler- 
able load,  hath  reduced  our  state  of  misery  to  an  abbrevia- 
ture ;  and  the  greater  our  misery  is,  the  less  while  it  is  like 
to  last :  the  sorrows  of  a  man's  spirit  being  like  ponderous 
weights,  which,  by  the  greatness  of  their  burden,  make  a 
swifter  motion,  and  descend  into  the  grave  to  rest  and  ease 
our  wearied  limbs  ;  for  then  only  we  shall  sleep  quietly, 
when  those  fetters  are  knocked  off',  which  not  only  bound 
our  souls  in  prison,  but  also  ate  the  flesh,  till  the  very  bones 
opened  the  secret  garments  of  their  cartilages,  discovering 
their  nakedness  and  sorrow, 

1.  Here  is  no  place  to  sit  down  in,  but  you  must  rise  as 
soon  as  you  are  set,  for  we  have  gnats  in  our  chambers, 
and  worms  in  our  gardens,  and  spiders  and  flies  in  the 
palaces  of  the  greatest  kings.  How  iew  men  in  the  world 
are  prosperous  !  What  an  infinite  number  of  slaves  and 
beggars,  of  persecuted  and  oppressed  people,  fill  all  corners 
of  the  earth  with  groans,  and  heaven  itself  with  weeping, 
prayers,  and  sad  remembrances  !  How  many  provinces 
and  kingdoms  are  afflicted  by  a  violent  war,  or  made  deso- 
late by  popular  diseases !     Some  whole  countries  are  re- 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  35 

marked  with  fatal  evils,  or  periodical  sicknesses.  Grand 
Cairo  in  Egypt  feels  the  plague  every  three  years  returning 
like  a  quartan  ague,  and  destroying  many  thousands  of 
persons.  All  the  inhabitants  of  Arabia  the  Desert  are  in  a 
contiimal  fear  of  being  buried  in  huge  heaps  of  sand,  and 
therefore  dwell  in  tents  and  ambulatory  houses,  or  retire  to 
unfruitful  mountains,  to  prolong  an  uneasy  and  wilder  life. 
And  all  the  countries  round  about  the  Adriatic  sea  feel  such 
violent  convulsions  by  tempests  and  intolerable  earthquakes, 
that  sometimes  whole  cities  find  a  tomb,  and  every  man 
sinks  with  his  own  house  made  ready  to  become  his  monu- 
ment, and  his  bed  is  crushed  into  the  disorders  of  a  grave. 
Was  not  all  the  world  drowned  at  one  deluge,  and  ])reach 
of  the  Divine  anger?  And  shall  not  all  tlie  world  again 
be  destroyed  by  fire  ?  Are  there  not  many  thousands  that 
die  every  night,  and  that  groan  and  weep  sadly  every  day  ? 
But  what  shall  we  think  of  that  great  evil,  which  for  the 
sins  of  man  God  hath  suffered  to  possess  the  greatest  part 
of  mankind?  Most  of  the  men  that  are  now  alive,  or  that 
have  been  living  for  many  ages,  are  Jews,  Heathens,  or 
Turks :  and  God  was  pleased  to  suflfer  a  base  epileptic 
person,  a  villain  and  a  vicious,  to  set  up  a  religion  which 
hath  filled  all  the  nearer  parts  of  Asia,  and  much  of  Africa, 
and  some  part  of  Europe  ;  so  that  the  greatest  number  of 
men  and  women  born  in  so  many  kingdoms  and  provinces 
are  infallibly  made  Mahometan,  strangers  and  enemies  to 
Christ,  by  whom  alone  we  can  be  saved.  This  considera- 
tion is  extremely  sad,  when  we  remember  how  universal 
and  how  great  an  evil  it  is,  that  so  many  millions  of  sons 
and  daughters  are  born  to  enter  into  the  possession  of 
devils  to  eternal  ages.  These  evils  are  the  miseries  of 
great  parts  of  mankind,  and  we  cannot  easily  consider 
more  particularly  the  evils  which  happen  to  us,  being  the 
inseparable  affections  or  incidents  to  the  whole  nature  of 
man. 

2.  We  find,  that  all  the  women  in  the  world  are  either 
born  for  barrenness  or  the  pains  of  childbirth,  and  yet  this 
is  one  of  our  greatest  blessings ;  but  such  indeed  are  the 
blessings  of  this  world,  we  cannot  be  well  with,  nor  with- 
out many  things.  Perfumes  make  our  heads  ache,  roses 
prick  our  fingers ;  and  in  our  very  blood,  where  our  life 
dwells,  is  the  scene,  under  which  nature  acts  many  sharp 
fevers  and  heavy  sicknesses.     It  were  too  sad,  if  I  should 


36  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

tell  how  many  persons  are  afflicted  with  evil  spirits,  with 
spectres  and  illusions  of  the  night ;  and  that  huge  multi- 
tudes of  men  and  women  live  upon  man's  flesh;  nay,  worse 
yet,  upon  the  sins  of  men,  upon  the  sins  of  their  sons  and 
of  their  daughters,  and  they  pay  their  souls  down  for  the 
bread  they  eat,  buying  this  day's  meal  with  the  price  of  the 
last  night's  sin. 

3.  Or  if  you  please  in  charity  to  visit  an  hospital,  which 
is  indeed  a  map  of  the  whole  world,  there  you  shall  see  the 
effects  of  Adam's  sin,  and  the  ruins  of  human  nature ;  bo- 
dies laid  up  in  heaps  like  the  bones  of  a  destroyed  town, 
homines  precarii  spiritus  et  male  hcerentis,  men  whose  souls 
seem  to  be  borrowed,  and  are  kept  there  by  art  and  the 
force  of  medicine  ;  whose  miseries  are  so  great,  that  few 
people  have  charity  or  humanity  enough  to  visit  them,  fewer 
have  the  heart  to  dress  them,  and  we  pity  them  in  civility 
or  with  a  transient  prayer,  but  we  do  not  feel  their  sorrows 
by  the  mercies  of  a  religious  pity ;  and  therefore  as  we 
leave  their  sorrows  in  many  degrees  unrelieved  and  uneased, 
so  we  contract  by  our  unmercifulness  a  guilt,  by  which  our- 
selves become  liable  to  the  same  calamities.  Those  many 
that  need  pity,  and  those  infinities  of  people  that  refuse  to 
pity,  are  miserable  upon  a  several  charge,  but  yet  they  al- 
most make  up  all  mankind. 

4.  All  wicked  men  are  in  love  with  that  which  entangles 
them  in  huge  varieties  of  troubles;  they  are  slaves  to  the 
worst  of  masters,  to  sin  and  to  the  devil,  to  a  passion,  and 
to  an  imperious  woman.  Good  men  are  for  ever  persecuted, 
and  God  chastises  every  son  whom  he  receives,  and  what- 
soever is  easy  is  trifling  and  worth  nothing,  and  whatsoever 
is  excellent  is  not  to  be  obtained  without  labour  and 
sorrow;  and  the  conditions  and  states  of  men,  that  are 
free  from  great  cares,  are  such,  as  have  in  them  nothing 
rich  and  orderly,  and  those  that  have,  are  stuck  full  of 
thorns  and  trouble.  Kings  are  full  of  care ;  and  learned 
men  in  all  ages  have  been  observed  to  be  very  poor,  et  ho- 
nestas  miserias  accusant^  they  complain  of  their  honest 
miseries. 

5.  But  these  evils  are  notorious  and  confessed ;  even 
they  also,  whose  felicity  men  stare  at  and  admire,  besides 
their  splendour  and  the  sharpness  of  their  light,  will,  with 
their  appendent  sorrows,  wring  a  tear  from  the  most  re- 
solved eye :  for  not  only  the  winter  quarter  is  full  of  storms. 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  37 

and  cold,  and  darkness;  but  the  beauteous  spring  hath 
blasts  and  sharp  frosts;  the  fruitful  teeming  summer  is 
melted  with  heat,  and  burnt  with  the  kisses  of  the  sun,  her 
friend,  and  choked  with  dust ;  and  the  rich  autumn  is  full 
of  sickness  ;  and  we  are  weary  of  that  which  we  enjoy, 
because  sorrow  is  its  biggest  portion  :  and  when  we  remem- 
ber, that  upon  the  fairest  face  is  placed  one  of  the  worst 
sinks  of  the  body,  the  nose,  we  may  use  it  not  only  as  a 
mortification  to  the  pride  of  beauty,  but  as  an  allay  to  the 
fairest  outside  of  condition  which  any  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Adam  do  possess.  For  look  upon  kings  and 
conquerors :  I  will  not  tell  that  many  of  them  fall  into  the 
condition  of  servants,  and  their  subjects  rule  over  them, 
and  stand  upon  the  ruins  of  their  families,  and  that  to  such 
persons  the  sorrow  is  bigger  than  usually  happens  in 
smaller  fortunes :  but  let  us  suppose  them  still  conquerors, 
and  see  what  a  goodly  purchase  they  get  by  all  their  pains 
and  amazing  fears,  and  continual  dangers.  They  carry 
their  arms  beyond  Ister,  and  pass  the  Euphrates,  and  bind 
the  Germans  with  the  bounds  of  the  river  Rhine  ;  I  speak 
in  the  style  of  the  Roman  greatness ;  for  now-a-days  the 
biggest  fortune  swells  not  beyond  the  limits  of  a  petty 
province  or  two,  and  a  hill  confines  the  progress  of  their 
prosperity,  or  a  river  checks  it ;  but  whatsoever  tempts  the 
pride  and  vanity  of  ambitious  persons,  is  not  so  big  as  the 
smallest  star,  which  we  see  scattered  in  disorder  and  unre- 
garded upon  the  pavement  and  floor  of  heaven.  And  if 
we  would  suppose  the  pismires  had  but  our  understandings, 
they  also  would  have  the  method  of  a  man's  greatness,  and 
divide  their  little  mole-hills  into  provinces  and  exarchates : 
and  if  they  also  grew  as  vicious  and  as  miserable,  one  of 
their  princes  would  lead  an  army  out,  and  kill  his  neigh- 
bour ants,  that  he  might  reign  over  the  next  handful  of  a 
turf.  But  then,  if  we  consider,  at  what  price  and  with  what 
felicity  all  this  is  purchased,  the  sting  of  the  painted  snake 
will  quickly  appear,  and  the  fairest  of  their  fortunes  will 
properly  enter  into  this  account  of  human  infelicities. 

We  may  guess  at  it  by  the  constitution  of  Agustus's 
fortune,  who  struggled  for  his  power,  first,  with  the  Roman 
citizens,  then  with  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  all  the  fortune 
of  the  republic  ;  then  with  his  colleague  Mark  Antony  ; 
then  with  his  kindred  and  nearest  relatives ;  and  after  he 
was  wearied  with  slaughter  of  the  Romans,  before  he  could 
d  2G 


33  GE^viERAL  CONSlDEUATiOlNS 

sit  down  and  rest  in  his  imperial  chair,  he  was  forced  to 
carry  armies  into  Macedonia,  Galatia,  beyond  Euphrates, 
Rhine,  and  Danubius  :  and  when  he  dwelt  at  home  in 
greatness  and  within  the  circles  of  a  mighty  power,  ho 
hardly  escaped  the  sword  of  the  Egnatii,  of  Lepidus, 
Cffipio,  and  Mura3na :  and  after  he  had  entirely  reduced 
the  felicity  and  grandeur  into  his  own  family,  his  daughter, 
his  only  child,  conspired  with  many  of  the  young  nobility, 
and  being  joined  with  adulterous  complications,  as  with 
an  impious  sacrament,  they  affrighted  and  destroyed  the 
fortune  of  the  old  man,  and  wrought  him  more  sorrow  than 
all  the  troubles  that  were  hatched  in  the  baths  and  beds  of 
Egypt,  between  Antony  and  Cleopatra.  This  was  the 
greatest  fortune  that  the  world  had  then  or  ever  since, 
and  therefore  we  cannot  expect  it  to  be  better  in  a  less 
prosperity. 

6.  The  prosperity  of  this  world  is  so  infinitely  soured 
with  the  overflowing  of  evils,  that  he  is  counted  the  most 
happy,  who  hath  the  fewest ;  all  conditions  being  evil  and 
miserable,  they  are  only  distinguished  by  the  number  of 
calamities.  The  collector  of  the  Roman  and  foreign  ex- 
amples, when  he  had  reckoned  two-and-twenty  instances 
of  great  fortunes,  every  one  of  which  had  been  allayed 
with  great  variety  of  evils:  in  all  his  reading  or  experience, 
he  could  tell  but  of  two,  who  had  been  famed  for  an  entire 
prosperity,  Quintus  Metellus,  and  Gyges  the  king  of  Lydia ; 
and  yet  concerning  the  one  of  them  he  tells,  that  his  feli- 
city was  so  inconsiderable  (and  yet  it  was  the  bigger  of  the 
two)  that  the  oracle  said,  that  Aglaus  Sophidius,  the  poor 
Arcadian  shepherd,  was  more  happy  than  he ;  that  is,  he 
had  fewer  troubles;  for  so  indeed  we  are  to  reckon  the 
pleasures  of  this  life  ;  the  limit  of  our  joy  is  the  absence  of 
some  degree  of  sorrow  ;  and  he  that  hath  the  least  of  this, 
is  the  most  prosperous  person.  But  then  we  must  look 
for  prosperity,  not  in  palaces  or  courts  of  princes,  not  in  the 
tents  of  conquerors,  or  in  the  gaieties  of  fortunate  and  pre- 
vailing sinners ;  but  something  rather  in  the  cottages  of 
honest,  innocent,  and  contented  persons,  whose  mind  is  no 
bigger  than  their  fortune,  nor  their  virtue  less  than  their 
security.  As  for  others,  whose  fortune  looks  bigger,  and 
allures  fools  to  follow  it  like  the  wandering  fires  of  the 
night,  till  they  run  into  rivers,  or  are  broken  upon  rocks 
with  starting  and  running  after   them,  they  are   all  in  the 


riJE?ARATORY  TO  DEATH.  39 

condition  of  Murius,  than  whose  condition  nothing  was 
more  constant,  iind  nothing  more  mutable  ;  if  we  reckon 
them  amongst  the  happy,  they  arc  the  most  happy  men ; 
if  we  recivon  tlieni  amongst  the  miserable,  they  are  the 
most  miserable.  For  just  as  is  a  man's  condition,  great 
or  little,  so  is  the  state  of  his  misery  :  all  have  their  share  ; 
but  kings  and  princes,  great  generals  and  consids,  rich 
men  and  mighty,  as  they  have  the  biggest  business  and  the 
biggest  charge,  and  are  answerable  to  God  for  the  greatest 
accounts,  so  they  have  the  biggest  trouble ;  that  tha  un- 
easiness of  their  appendage  may  divide  the  good  and  evil 
of  the  world,  making  the  poor  man's  fortune  as  eligible  as 
the  greatest ;  and  also  restraining  the  vanity  of  man's 
spirit,  which  a  great  fortune  is  apt  to  svv'cll  from  a  vapour 
to  a  bubble  ;  but  God  in  mercy  hath  mingled  wormwood 
v/ith  their  wine,  and  so  restrained  the  drunkenness  and 
follies  of  prosperity. 

7.  Man  never  hath  one  day  to  himself  of  entire  peace 
from  the  things  of  the  world,  but  either  something  trou- 
bles  him,  or  nothing  satisfies  him,  or  his  very  fulness 
swells  him,  and  makes  him  breathe  short  upon  his  bed. 
Men's  joys  are  troublesome  ;  and  besides  that,  the  fear  of 
losing  them,  takes  away  the  present  pleasure,  (and  a  man 
hath  need  of  another  felicity  to  preserve  this,)  they  are  also 
wavering  and  full  of  trepidation,  not  only  from  their  incon- 
stant nature,  but  from  their  weak  foundation :  they  arise 
from  vanity,  and  they  dwell  upon  ice,  and  they  converse 
with  the  wind,  and  they  have  the  wings  of  a  bird,  and  are 
serious  but  as  the  resolutions  of  a  child,  commenced  by 
chance,  and  managed  by  folly,  and  proceed  by  inadver- 
tency, and  end  in  vanity  and  forgetfulness.  So  that  as 
Livius  Drusus  said  of  himself,  he  never  had  any  play-days, 
or  days  of  quiet  when  he  was  a  boy ;  for  he  was  trouble- 
some and  busy,  a  restless  and  unquiet  man ;  the  same  may 
every  man  observe  to  be  true  of  himself:  he  is  always  rest- 
less and  uneasy,  he  dwells  upon  the  waters,  and  leans  upon 
thorns,  and  lays  his  head  upon  a  sharp  stone. 

SECTION  V. 

This  Consideration  reduced  to  Practice, 

1.  The  effect  of  this  consideration  is  this,  that  the  sad- 

nesses  of  this  life  help  to  sweeten  the  bitter  cup  of  death. 

For  let  our  lif<^  be  never  so  long,  if  our  strength  were  great 


40  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

as  that  of  oxen  and  camels,  if  our  sinews  were  strong  as 
the  cordage  at  the  foot  of  an  oak,  if  we  were  as  fighting 
and  prosperous  people  as  Siccius  Dentatus,  who  was  on 
the  prevailing  side  in  a  hundred  and  twenty  battles,  who 
had  three  hundred  and  twelve  public  rewards  assigned  him 
by  his  generals  and  princes,  for  his  valour  and  conduct  in 
sieges  and  sharp  encounters ;  and,  besides  all  this,  had  his 
share  in  nine  triumphs ;  yet  still  the  period  shall  be,  that 
all  this  shall  end  in  death,  and  the  people  shall  talk  of  us 
awhile,  good  or  bad,  according  as  we  deserve,  or  as  they 
please  ;  and  once  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  concerning 
every  one  of  us,  it  shall  be  told  in  the  neighbourhood  that 
we  are  dead.  This  we  are  apt  to  think  a  sad  story  ;  but 
therefore  let  us  help  it  with  a  sadder  ;  for  we  therefore  need 
not  be  much  troubled,  that  we  shall  die,  because  we  are 
not  here  in  ease,  nor  do  we  dwell  in  a  fair  condition ;  but 
our  days  are  full  of  sorrow  and  anguish,  dishonoured,  and 
made  unhappy  with  many  sins,  with  a  frail  and  a  foolish 
spirit,  entangled  with  difficult  cases  of  conscience,  ensnared 
with  passions,  amazed  with  fears,  full  of  cares,  divided  with 
curiosities  and  contradictory  interests,  made  airy  and  im- 
pertinent with  vanities,  abused  with  ignorance  and  pro- 
digious errors,  made  ridiculous  with  a  thousand  weak- 
nesses, worn  away  with  labours,  loaden  with  diseases, 
daily  vexed  with  dangers  and  temptations,  and  in  love  with 
misery ;  we  are  weakened  with  delights,  afflicted  with  want, 
with  the  evils  of  myself  and  of  all  my  family,  and  with  the 
sadnesses  of  all  my  friends,  and  of  all  good  men,  even  of 
the  whole  church  ;  and  therefore,  methinks,  we  need  not  be 
troubled,  that  God  is  pleased  to  put  an  end  to  all  these 
troubles,  and  to  let  them  sit  down  in  a  natural  period, 
which,  if  we  please,  may  be  to  us  the  beginning  of  a  better 
life.  When  the  Prince  of  Persia  wept  because  his  army 
should  all  die  in  the  revolution  of  an  age,  Artabanus  told 
him  that  they  should  all  meet  with  evils  so  many  and  so 
great,  that  every  man  of  them  should  wish  himself  dead 
long  before  that.  Indeed  it  were  a  sad  thing  to  be  cut  of 
the  stone,  and  we  that  are  in  health,  tremble  to  think  of  it  ; 
but  the  man  that  is  wearied  with  the  disease,  looks  upon 
that  sharpness  as  upon  his  cure  and  remedy  :  and  as  none 
need  to  have  a  tooth  drawn,  so  none  could  well  endure  it, 
but  he  that  hath  felt  the  pain  of  it  in  his  head :  so  is  our 
life  so  full  of  evils,  that  therefore  death  is  no  evil  to  them, 


PREPAHATORV  TO  DEATIf  41 

that  have  felt  the  siiiurt  of  this,  or  hope  for  the  joys  of  a 
better. 

2.  But  as  it  helps  to  case  a  certain  sorrow,  as  a  fire 
draws  out  fire,  and  a  nail  drives  forth  a  nail;  so  it  instructs 
us  in  a  present  duty,  that  is,  that  we  should  not  be  so  fond 
of  a  perpetual  storm,  nor  doat  upon  the  transient  gauds 
and  gilded  thorns  of  this  world.  They  are  not  worth  a  pas- 
sion, nor  worth  a  sigh  or  a  groan,  not  of  the  price  of  one 
night's  watching;  and  therefore  they  arc  mistaken  and 
miserable  persons,  who,  since  Adam  planted  thorns  round 
about  paradise,  are  more  in  love  with  that  hedge  than  all 
the  fruits  of  the  garden,  sottish  admirers  of  things  that  hurt 
them,  of  sweet  poisons,  gilded  daggers,  and  silken  halters. 
Tell  them  they  have  lost  a  bounteous  friend,  a  rich  pur- 
chase, a  fair  farm,  a  wealthy  donative,  and  you  dissolve 
their  patience  :  it  is  an  evil  bigger  than  their  spirit  can  bear : 
it  brings  sickness  and  death:  they  can  neither  eat  nor  sleep 
with  such  a  sorrow.  But  if  you  represent  to  them  the  evils 
of  a  vicious  habit,  and  the  dangers  of  a  state  of  sin ;  if  you 
tell  them  they  have  displeased  God,  and  interrupted  their 
hope's  of  heaven ;  it  may  be  they  will  be  so  civil  as  to  hear 
It  patiently,  and  to  treat  you  kindly,  and  first  to  commend, 
and  then  forget  your  story,  because  they  prefer  this  world 
with  all  its  sorrows  before  the  pure  unmingled  felicities  of 
heaven.  But  it  is  strange,  that  any  man  should  be  so  pas- 
sionately in  love  vrith  the  thorns  that  grow  on  his  own 
ground,  that  he  should  wear  them  for  armlets,  and  knit 
them  in  his  shirt,  and  prefer  them  before  a  kingdom  and 
immortality.  No  man  loves  this  world  the  better  for  his 
being  poor;  but  men  that  love  it,  because  they  have  great 
possessions,  love  it  because  it  is  troublesome  and  charge- 
able, full  of  noise  and  temptation,  because  it  is  unsafe  and 
ungoverned,  flattered  and  abused;  and  he  that  considers 
the  troubles  of  an  over-long  garment  and  of  a  crammed 
stomach,  a  trailing  gown  and  a  loaden  table,  may  justly  un- 
derstand that  all  that,  for  which  men  are  so  passionate,  is 
their  hurt,  and  their  objection,  that  which  a  temperate  man 
would  avoid,  and  a  wise  man  cannot  love. 

He  that  is  no  fool,  but  can  consider  wisely,  if  he  be  in 
love  with  this  world,  we  need  not  despair  but  that  a  witty 
man  might  reconcile  him  with  tortures,  and  make  him 
think  charitably  of  the  rack,  and  be  brought  to  dwell  with 
vipers  and  dragons,  and  entertain  his  guests  with  the 
d2  2  G  2 


42  GENERAL  EXERCISES 

shrieks  of  mandrakes,  cats,  and  screech-owls,  with  the 
filing  of  iron,  and  the  harshness  of  rending  of  silk,  or  to 
admire  the  harmony  that  is  made  by  a  herd  of  evening 
wolves,  when  they  miss  their  draught  of  blood  in  their 
midnight  revels.  The  groans  of  a  man  in  a  fit  of  the  stone 
are  worse  than  all  these ;  and  the  distractions  of  a  troubled 
conscience  are  worse  than  those  groans ;  and  yet  a  careless 
merry  sinner  is  worse  than  all  that.  But  if  we  could  from 
one  of  the  battlements  of  heaven  espy,  how  many  men  and 
women  at  this  time  lie  fainting  and  dying  for  want  of  bread, 
how  many  young  men  are  hewn  down  by  the  sword  of  war, 
how  many  poor  orphans  are  now  weeping  over  the  graves 
of  their  father,  by  whose  life  they  were  enabled  to  eat :  if  we 
could  but  hear  how  many  mariners  and  passengers  are  at 
this  present  in  a  storm,  and  shriek  out  because  their  keel 
dashes  against  a  rock,  or  bulges  under  them,  how  many 
people  there  are  that  weep  with  want,  and  are  mad  with 
oppression,  or  are  desperate  by  too  quick  a  sense  of  a  con- 
stant infelicity ;  in  all  reason  we  should  be  glad  to  be  out 
of  the  noise  and  participation  of  so  many  evils.  This  is  a 
place  of  sorrows  and  tears,  of  great  evils  and  a  constant  ca- 
lamity :  let  us  remove  from  hence,  at  least  in  affections  and 
preparations  of  mind. 

CHAPTER  II. 

A  GENERAL  PRErAKATION  TOWARDS  A  HOLY  AND  BLESSED 
DEATH  ;  BY  V/AY  OF  EXERCISE 

SECTION  I. 

Three  Precepts  -preparatory  to  a  Holy  Death,  to  he  prac- 
tised in  our  whole  life. 
1.  He  that  would  die  well,  must  always  look  for  death, 
every  day  knocking  at  the  gates  of  the  grave :  and  then  the 
gates  of  the  grave  shall  never  prevail  upon  him  to  do  him 
mischief.  This  was  the  advice  of  all  the  wise  and  good 
men  of  the  world,  who,  especially  in  the  days  and  periods  of 
their  joy  and  festival  egressions,  chose  to  throw  some  ashes 
into  their  chalices,  some  sober  remembrances  of  their  fatal 
period.  Such  was  the  black  shirt  of  Saladine,  the  tomb- 
stone presented  to  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople  on  his 
coronation-day  ;  the  Bishop  of  Rome's  two  reeds  with  flax 
and  a  wax-taper  ,*    the    Egyptian    skeleton    served    up    at 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH. 


43 


feasts;  and  Trirnalcion's  banquet  in  Petronius,  in  which 
was  brought  in  the  image  of  a  dead  man's  bones  of  silver, 
with  spondyles  exactly  turning  to  every  of  the  guests,  and 
saying  to  every  one,  that  you  and  you  must  die,  and  look 
not  one  upon  another,  for  every  one  is  equally  concerned 
in  this  sad  representment.  These  in  fantastic  semblances 
declare  a  severe  counsel,  and  useful  meditation ;  and  it  is 
not  easy  for  a  man  to  be  gay  in  his  imagination,  or  to  be 
drunk  with  joy  or  wine,  pride  or  revenge,  who  considers 
sadly,  that  he  must,  ere  long,  dwell  in  a  house  of  darkness 
and  dishonour,  and  his  body  must  be  the  inheritance  of 
worms,  and  his  soul  must  be  what  he  pleases,  even  as  a 
man  makes  it  here  by  his  living  good  or  bad.  I  have  read 
of  a  young  hermit,  who,  being  passionately  in  love  with  a 
young  lady,  could  not,  by  all  the  arts  of  religion  and  mor- 
tificatioU;,  suppress  the  trouble  of  that  fancy,  till  at  last 
being  told  that  she  was  dead,  and  had  been  buried  about 
fourteen  days,  he  went  secretly  to  her  vault,  and  with  the 
skirt  of  his  mantle  wiped  the  moisture  from  the  carcass, 
and  still  at  the  return  of  his  temptation  laid  it  before  him, 
saying,  Behold,  this  is  the  beauty  of  the  woman  thou  didst 
so  much  desire  :  and  so  the  man  found  his  cure.  And  if 
we  make  death  as  present  to  us,  our  own  death,  dwelling 
and  dressed  in  all  its  pomp  of  fancy  and  proper  circum- 
stances ;  if  any  thing  will  quench  the  heats  of  lust,  or  the 
desires  of  money,  or  the  greedy  passionate  affections  of  this 
world,  this  must  do  it.  But  withal,  the  frequent  use  of  this 
meditation,  by  curing  our  present  inordinations,  will  make 
death  safe  and  friendly,  and  by  its  very  custom  w'lU  make, 
that  the  king  of  terrors  shall  come  to  us  without  his  affright- 
ing dresses ;  and  that  we  shall  sit  down  in  the  grave  as  we 
compose  ourselves  to  sleep,  and  do  the  duties  of  nature 
and  choice.  The  old  people  that  lived  near  the  Riphaean 
mountains,  were  taught  to  converse  Avith  death,  and  to  han- 
dle it  on  all  sides,  and  to  discourse  of  it,  as  of  a  thing  that 
will  certainly  come,  and  ought  Svo  to  do.  Thence  their 
minds  and  resolutions  became  capj'ble  of  death,  and  they 
thought  it  a  dishonourable  thing,  wi'h  greediness  to  keep 
a  life  that  must  go  from  us,  to  lay  aside  its  thorns,  and  to 
return  again  circled  with  a  glory  and  a  diadem. 

2.  "  He  that  would  die  well,  must,  all  the  days  of  his 
life,  lay  up  against  the  day  of  death  ;"  not  only  by  the 
general  provisions  of  holiness  and  a  pious  life  indefinitely, 


44  GENERAL  EXERCISES 

but  provisions  proper  to  the  necessities  of  that  great  day 
of  expense,  in  which  a  man  is  to  throw  his  last  cast  for  an 
eternity  of  joys  or  sorrows;  ever  remembering,  that  this 
alone,  well  performed,  is  not  enough  to  pass  us  into  Para- 
dise ;  but  that  alone,  done  foolishly,  is  enough  to  send  us 
to  hell :  and  the  want  of  either  a  holy  life  or  death  makes 
a  man  to  fall  short  of  the  mighty  price  of  our  high  calling. 
In  order  to  this  rule,  we  are  to  consider  what  special  graces 
we  shall  then  need  to  exercise,  and  by  the  proper  arts  of 
the  spirit,  by  a  heap  of  proportioned  arguments,  by  prayers 
and  a  great  treasure  of  devotion  laid  up  in  heaven,  provide 
beforehand  a  reserve  of  strength  and  mercy.  Men  in  the 
course  of  their  lives  walk  lazily  and  incuriously,  as  if  they 
had  both  their  feet  in  one  shoe  :  and  when  they  are  pas- 
sively revolved  to  the  time  of  their  dissolution,  they  have 
no  mercies  in  store,  no  patience,  no  ffiith,  no  charity  to 
God,  or  despite  of  the  world,  being  without  gust  or  appetite 
for  the  land  of  their  inheritance,  which  Christ  with  so  much 
pain  and  blood  had  purchased  for  them.  When  we  come 
to  die  indeed,  we  shall  be  very  much  put  to  it  to  stand  firm 
upon  the  two  feet  of  a  Christian,  faith  and  patience.  When 
we  ourselves  are  to  use  the  articles,  to  turn  our  former  dis- 
courses into  present  practice,  and  to  feel  what  we  never 
felt  before,  we  shall  find  it  to  be  quite  another  thing,  to  be 
willing  presently  to  quit  this  life  and  all  our  present  pos- 
sessions for  the  hopes  of  a  thing,  which  we  were  never 
suffered  to  see,  and  such  a  thing,  of  which  we  may  fail  so 
many  ways,  and  of  which  if  we  fail  any  way,  we  are  miser- 
able for  ever.  Then  we  shall  find,  how  much  we  have  need 
to  have  secured  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  grace  of  faith, 
by  an  habitual,  perfect,  unmoveable  resolution.  The  same 
also  is  the  case  of  patience,  which  will  be  assaulted  with 
sharp  pains,  disturbed  fnicies,  great  fears,  want  of  a  pre- 
sent mind,  natural  weaknesses,  frauds  of  the  devil,  and  a 
thousand  accidents  and  imperfections.  It  concerns  us 
therefore  highly,  in  the  whole  course  of  our  lives,  not  only 
to  accustom  ourselves  to  a  patient  suffering  of  injuries  and 
aflfronts,  of  persecutions  and  losses,  of  cross  accidents  and 
unnecessary  circumstances;  but  also  by  representing  death 
as  present  to  us,  to  consider  with  what  arguments  then  to 
fortify  our  patience,  and  by  assiduous  and  fervent  prayer 
to  God  all  our  life  long  to  call  upon  him  to  give  us  patience 
and  great  assistances,  a  strong  faith  and  a  confirmed  hope, 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  45 

the  Spirit  of  God  and  his  holy  angels  assistants  at  that 
time,  to  resist  and  to  subdue  the  devil's  temptations  and 
assaults ;  and  so  to  fortify  our  heart,  that  it  break  not  into 
intolerable  sorrows  and  impatience,  and  end  in  wretched- 
ness and  infidelity.  But  this  is  to  be  the  work  of  our  life, 
and  not  to  be  done  at  once ;  but,  as  God  gives  us  time,  by 
succession,  by  parts  and  little  periods.  For  it  is  very  re- 
markable, that  God  whogiveth  plenteously  to  all  creatures, 
he  hath  scattered  the  firmament  with  stars,  as  a  man  sows 
corn  in  his  fields,  in  a  multitude  bigger  than  the  capacities 
of  human  order  ;  he  hath  made  so  much  variety  of  crea- 
tures, and  gives  us  great  choice  of  meats  and  drinks,  al- 
though any  one  of  both  kinds  would  have  served  our  needs; 
and  so  in  all  instances  of  nature  ;  yet  in  the  distribution 
of  our  time  God  seems  to  be  strait-handed,  and  gives  it  to 
us,  not  as  nature  gives  us  rivers,  enough  to  drown  us,  but 
drop  by  drop,  minute  after  minute,  so  that  we  never  can 
have  two  minutes  together,  but  he  takes  away  one  when 
he  gives  us  another.  This  should  teach  us  to  value  our 
time,  since  God  so  values  it,  and  by  his  so  small  distribu- 
tion of  it,  tells  us  it  is  the  most  precious  thing  we  have. 
Since  therefore,  in  the  day  of  our  death,  we  can  have  still 
but  the  same  little  portion  of  this  precious  time,  let  us  in 
every  minute  of  our  life,  I  mean,  in  every  discernible  por- 
tion, lay  up  such  a  stock  of  reason  and  good  works,  that 
they  may  convey  a  value  to  the  imperfect  and  shorter  ac- 
tions of  our  death-bed ;  Avhile  God  rewards  the  piety  of 
our  lives  by  his  gracious  acceptation  and  benediction  upon 
the  actions  preparatory  to  our  death-bed. 

3.  He  that  desires  to  die  well  and  happily,  above  all 
things,  must  be  careful  that  he  do  not  live  a  soft,  a  deli- 
cate, and  a  voluptuous  life  ;  but  a  life  severe,  holy,  and 
under  the  discipline  of  the  cross,  under  the  conduct  of 
prudence  and  observation,  a  life  of  warfare  and  sober 
counsels,  labour  and  watchfulness.  No  man  wants  cause 
of  tears  and  a  daily  sorrow.  Let  every  man  consider  what 
he  feels,  and  acknowledge  his  misery ;  let  him  confess  his 
sin,  and  chastise  it;  let  him  bear  his  cross  patiently,  and 
his  persecutions  nobly,  and  his  repentances  willingly  and 
constantly  ;  let  him  pity  the  evils  of  all  the  world,  and  bear 
his  share  of  the  calamities  of  his  brother ;  let  him  long  and 
sigh  for  the  joys  of  heaven  ;  let  him  tremble  and  fear,  be- 
cause he  hath  deserved  the  pains  of  hell ;  let  him  commute 


46  GENERAL  EXERCISES 

his  eternal  ear  with  a  temporal  suffering,  preventing  God's 
judgment  by  passing  one  of  his  own  ;  let  him  groan  for 
the  labours  of  his  pilgrimage,  and  the  dangers  of  his  war- 
fare :  and  by  that  time  he  hath  summed  up  all  these  la- 
bours, and  duties,  and  contingencies,  all  the  proper  causes, 
instruments,  and  acts  of  sorrow,  he  will  find,  that  for  a 
secular  joy  and  wantonness  of  spirit  there  are  not  left 
many  void  spaces  of  his  life.  It  was  St.  James's  advice,* 
"Be  afflicted,  and  mourn,  and  weep;  let  your  laughter  be 
turned  into  mourning,  and  your  joy  into  weeping :"  and 
Bonaventure,  in  the  Life  of  Christ,  reports,  that  the  holy 
Virgin-mother  said  to  St.  Elizabeth,  that  grace  does  not 
descend  into  the  soul  of  a  man  but  by  prayer  and  affliction. 
Certain  it  is,  that  a  mourning  spirit  and  an  afflicted  body 
are  great  instruments  of  reconciling  God  to  a  sinner,  and 
they  always  dwell  at  the  gates  of  atonement  and  restitu- 
tion. But  besides  this,  a  delicate  and  prosperous  life  is 
hugely  contrary  to  the  hopes  of  a  blessed  eternity.  "  Woe 
be  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Sion,"f  so  it  was  said  of  old  ; 
and  our  blessed  Lord  said,  "  Woe  be  to  you  that  laugh,  for 
ye  shall  weep::j:  but,  blessed  are  they  that  mourn;  for 
they  shall  be  comforted. "§  Here  or  hereafter  we  must 
have  our  portion  of  sorrows.  "  He  that  now  goeth  on  his 
way  weeping,  and  beareth  forth  good  seed  with  him,  shall 
doubtless  come  again  with  joy,  and  bring  his  sheaves  with 
him."|i  And  certainly  he  that  sadly  considers  the  portion 
of  Dives,  and  remembers  that  the  account  which  Abraham 
gave  him  for  the  unavoidableness  of  his  torment  was,  be- 
cause he  had  his  good  things  in  this  life,  must,  in  all  rea- 
son, with  trembling  run  from  a  course  of  banquets,  and 
faring  deliciously  every  day,  as  being  a  dangerous  estate, 
and  a  consignation  to  an  evil  greater  than  all  danger,  the 
pains  and  torments  of  unhappy  souls.  If  either  by  patience 
or  repentance,  by  compassion  or  persecution,  by  choice  or 
by  conformity,  by  severity  or  discipline,  we  allay  the  festi- 
val follies  of  a  soft  life,  and  profess  under  the  cross  of 
Christ,  we  shall  more  willingly  and  more  safely  enter  into 
our  grave  :  but  the  death-bed  of  a  voluptuous  man  up- 
braids his  little  and  cozening  prosperities,  and  exacts  pains 
made  sharper  by  the  passing  from  soft  beds,  and  a  softer 
mind.  He  that  would  die  holily  and  happily,  must  in  this 
world  love  tears,  humility,  solitude,  and  repentance. 
^  Chap.  iv.  9.    t  AmoJi  vi.  1.    J  Luke  vi.  25.    ^  Matt.  v.  4.    ||  Psal.  cxxvi.  6. 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  47 

SECTION  II. 
Of  daily  Examination  of  our  Actions,  in  the  whole  course 
of  our  Health,  preparatory  to  our  Death-bed. 
He  that  will  die  well  and  liap])ily,  must  dress  his  soul  by 
a  diligent  and  frequent  scrutiny :  he  must  perfectly  under- 
stand and  watch  the  state  of  his  soul ;  he  must  set  his 
house  in  order,  before  he  be  fit  to  die.  And  for  this  there 
is  great  reason,  and  great  necessity. 

Reasons  for  a  daily  Examination. 

1.  For,  if  we  consider  the  disorders  of  every  day,  the 
nmltitude  of  impertinent  words,  the  great  portions  of  time 
spent  in  vanity,  the  daily  omissions  of  duty,  the  coldness 
of  our  prayers,  the  indifference  of  our  spirit  in  holy  things, 
the  uncertainty  of  our  secret  purposes,  our  infinite  decep- 
tions and  hypocrisies,  sometimes  not  known,  very  often  not 
observed  by  ourselves,  our  want  of  charity,  our  not  knowing 
in  how  many  degrees  of  action  and  purpose  every  virtue  is 
to  be  exercised,  the  secret  adherences  of  pride,  and  too 
forward  complacency  in  our  best  actions,  our  failings  in 
all  our  relations,  the  niceties  of  difference  between  some 
virtues  and  some  vices,  the  secret  undiscernible  passages 
from  lawful  to  unlawful  in  the  first  instances  of  change,  the 
perpetual  mistakings  of  permissions  for  duty,  and  licentious 
practices  for  permissions,  our  daily  abusing  the  liberty  that 
God  gives  us,  our  unsuspected  sins  in  the  managing  a 
course  of  life  certainly  lawful,  our  little  greediness  in  eat- 
ing, our  surprises  in  the  proportions  of  our  drinkings,  our 
too  great  freedoms  and  fondnesses  in  lawful  loves,  our  apt- 
ness for  things  sensual,  and  our  deadness  and  tediousness 
of  spirit  in  spiritual  employments ;  besides  infinite  variety 
of  cases  of  conscience  that  do  occur  in  the  life  of  every  man, 
and  in  all  intercourses  of  every  life,  and  that  the  produc- 
tions of  sin  are  numerous  and  increasing,  like  the  families 
of  the  northern  people,  or  the  genealogies  of  the  first  pa- 
triarchs of  the  world :  from  all  this  we  shall  find,  that  the 
computations  of  a  man's  life  are  busy  as  the  tables  of  sines 
and  tangents,  and  intricate  as  the  accounts  of  eastern 
merchants :  and  therefore  it  were  but  reason,  we  should 
sum  up  our  accounts  at  the  foot  of  every  page,  I  mean,  that 
we  call  ourselves  to  scrutiny  every  night,  when  we  compose 
ourselves  to  the  little  images  of  death. 

2.  For,  if  w^e  make  but  one  general  account,  and  never 


48 


GENERAL  EXERCISES 


reckon  till  we  die,  either  we  shall  only  reckon  by  great 
sums,  and  remember  nothing  but  clamorous  and  crying 
sins,  and  never  consider  concerning  particulars,  or  forget 
very  many ;  or  if  we  could  consider  all  that  we  ought,  we 
must  needs  be  confounded  with  the  multitude  and  variety. 
But  if  we  observe  all  the  little  passages  of  our  life,  and  re- 
duce them  into  the  order  of  accounts  and  accusations,  we 
shall  find  them  multiply  so  fast,  that  it  will  not  only  appear 
to  be  an  ease  to  the  accounts  of  our  death-bed,  but  by  the 
instrument  of  shame  will  restrain  the  inundation  of  evils;  it 
being  a  thing  intolerable  to  human  modesty,  to  see  sins  in- 
crease so  fast,  and  virtues  grow  up  so  slow;  to  see  every 
day  stained  with  the  spots  of  leprosy,  or  sprinkled  with  the 
marks  of  a  lesser  evil. 

3.  It  is  not  intended  we  should  take  accounts  of  our  lives 
only  to  be  thought  religious,  but  that  we  may  see  our  evil 
and  amend  it,  that  we  dash  our  sins  against  the  stones,  that 
we  may  go  to  God,  and  to  a  spiritual  guide,  and  search  for 
remedies,  and  apply  them.  And  indeed  no  man  can  well 
observe  his  own  growth  in  grace,  but  by  accounting  seldomer 
returns  of  sin,  and  a  more  frequent  victory  over  temptations ; 
concerning  which  every  man  makes  his  observations,  ac- 
cording as  he  makes  his  inquiries  and  search  after  himself. 
In  order  to  this  it  was  that  St.  Paul  wrote,  before  receiving 
the  holy  sacrament,  "Let  a  man  examine  himself,  and  so 
let  him  eat."  This  precept  was  given  in  those  days,  when 
they  communicated  every  day ;  and  therefore  a  daily  ex- 
amination also  was  intended. 

4.  And  it  will  appear  highly  fitting,  if  we  remember,  that, 
at  the  day  of  judgment,  not  only  the  greatest  lines  of  life,  but 
every  branch  and  circumstance  of  every  action,  every  word 
and  thought,  shall  be  called  to  scrutiny  and  severe  judg- 
ment :  insomuch  that  it  was  a  great  truth  which  one  said, 
Wo  be  to  the  most  innocent  life,  if  God  should  search  into 
it  without  mixtures  of  mercy.  And  therefore  we  are  here 
to  follow  St.  Paul's  advice,  "  Judge  yourselves,  and  you 
shall  not  be  judged  of  the  Lord."  The  way  to  prevent 
God's  anger  is  to  be  angry  with  ourselves ;  and  by  examin- 
ing our  actions,  and  condemning  the  criminal,  by  being 
assessors  in  God's  tribunal,  at  least  we  shall  obtain  the 
favour  of  the  court.  As  therefore  every  night  we  must 
make  our  bed  the  memorial  of  our  grave,  so  let  our  evening 
thoughts  be  an  image  of  the  day  of  judgment. 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH  49 

5.  This  advice  was  so  reasonable  and  proper  an  instru- 
ment of  virtue,  that  it  was  taught  even  to  the  scholars  of 
Pythagoras  by  their  master  :  "  Let  not  sleep  seize  upon  the 
regions  of  your  senses,  before  you  have  three  times  recalled 
the  conversation  and  accidents  of  the  day."  Examine 
what  you  have  committed  against  the  Divine  law,  what  you 
have  omitted  of  your  duty,  and  in  what  you  have  made  use 
of  the  Divine  grace  to  the  purposes  of  virtue  and  religion  ; 
joining  the  judge,  reason,  to  the  legislative  mind  or  con- 
science, that  God  may  reign  there  as  a  lawgiver  and  a 
judge.  Then  Christ's  kingdom  is  set  up  in  our  hearts:  then 
we  always  live  in  the  eye  of  our  Judge,  and  live  by  the 
measures  of  reason,  religion,  and  sober  counsels. 
The  benefits  we  shall  receive  by  practising  this  advice,  in 

order  to  a  blessed  death,  will  also  add  to  the  account  of 

reason  and  fair  inducements. 

The  Benefits  of  this  Exercise, 

1.  By  a  daily  examination  of  our  actions,  we  shall  the 
easier  cure  a  great  sin,  and  prevent  its  arrival  to  become 
habitual.  For  to  examine,  we  suppose  to  be  a  relative 
duty,  and  instrumental  to  something  else.  We  examine 
ourselves,  that  we  may  find  out  our  failings  and  cure  them; 
and  therefore  if  we  use  our  remedy  when  the  wound  is  fresh 
and  bleeding,  w^e  shall  find  the  cure  more  certain  and  less 
painful.  For  so  a  taper,  when  its  crown  of  flame  is  newly 
blown  oflf,  retains  a  nature  so  symbolical  to  light,  that  it 
will  with  greediness  rekindle  and  snatch  a  ray  from  the 
neighbouring  fire.  So  is  the  soul  of  man,  when  it  is  newly 
fallen  into  sin  ;  although  God  be  angry  with  it,  and  the 
state  of  God's  favour  and  its  own  graciousness  is  inter- 
rupted, yet  the  habit  is  not  naturally  changed ;  and  still 
God  leaves  some  roots  of  virtue  standing,  and  the  man  is 
modest,  or  apt  to  be  made  ashamed,  and  he  is  not  grown 
a  bold  sinner ;  but  if  he  sleeps  on  it,  and  returns  again  to 
the  same  sin,  and  by  degrees  grows  in  love  with  it,  and 
gets  the  custom,  and  the  strangeness  of  it  is  taken  away, 
then  it  is  his  master,  and  is  swelled  into  a  heap,  and  is 
abetted  by  use,  and  corroborated  by  newly-entertained 
principles,  and  is  insinuated  into  his  nature,  and  hath  pos- 
sessed his  affections,  and  tainted  the  will  and  the  under- 
standing :  and  by  this  time,  a  man  is  in  the  state  of  a  de- 
caying merchant,  his  accounts  are  so  great,  and  so  intri- 
e  2  H 


50  GENERAL  EXERCISES 

cate,  and  so  much  in  arrear,  that  to  examine  it  will  be  bat 
to  represent  the  particulars  of  his  calamity  ;  therefore  they 
think  it  better  to  pull  the  napkin  before  their  eyes  than  to 
stare  upon  the  circumstances  of  their  death. 

2.  A  daily  or  frequent  examination  of  the  parts  of  our  life 
will  interrupt  the  proceeding  and  hinder  the  journey  of 
little  sins  into  a  heap.  For  many  days  do  not  pass  the 
best  persons,  in  which  they  have  not  many  idle  words  or 
vainer  thoughts  to  sully  the  fair  whiteness  of  their  souls  ; 
some  indiscreet  passions  or  trifling  purposes,  some  imper- 
tinent discontents  or  unhandsome  usages  of  their  own  per- 
sons or  their  dearest  relatives.  And  though  God  is  not 
extreme  to  mark  what  is  done  amiss,  and  therefore  puts 
these  upon  the  accounts  of  his  mercy,  and  the  title  of  the 
cross;  yet  in  two  cases  these  little  sins  combine  and  clus- 
ter ;  and,  we  know,  that  grapes  were  once  in  so  great  a 
bunch,  that  one  cluster  was  the  load  of  two  men :  that  is, 
1.  When  either  we  are  in  love  with  small  sins  ;  or,  2.  When 
they  proceed  from  a  careless  and  incurious  spirit  into  fre- 
quency and  continuance.  For  so  the  smallest  atoms  that 
dance  in  all  the  little  cells  of  the  world  are  so  trifling  and 
immaterial,  that  they  cannot  trouble  an  eye,  nor  vex  the 
tenderest  part  of  a  wound  where  a  barbed  arrow  dwelt : 
yet,  when  by  their  infinite  numbers,  (as  Melissa  and  Par- 
menides  affirm,)  they  danced  first  into  order,  then  into 
little  bodies,  at  last  they  made  the  matter  of  the  world  :  so 
are  the  little  indiscretions  of  our  life  :  they  are  always  in- 
considerable, if  they  be  considered,  and  contemptible,  if 
they  be  not  despised,  and  God  does  not  regard  them,  if  we 
do.  We  may  easily  keep  them  asunder  by  our  daily  or 
nightly  thoughts,  and  prayers,  and  severe  sentences ;  but 
even  the  least  sand  can  check  the  tumultuous  pride,  and 
become  a  limit  to  the  sea,  when  it  is  in  a  heap  and  in  united 
multitudes  ,-  but  if  the  wind  scatter  and  divide  them,  the 
little  drops  and  the  vainer  froth  of  the  water  begin  to  in- 
vade the  strand.  Our  sighs  can  scatter  such  little  oflfences  ; 
but  then  be  sure  to  breathe  such  accents  frequently,  lest 
they  knot,  and  combine,  and  grow  big  as  the  shore,  and  we 
perish  in  sand,  in  trifling  instances.  "  He  that  despiseth 
little  things,  shall  perish  by  little  and  little ;"  so  said  the 
son  of  Sirach.* 

3.  A  frequent  examination  of  our  actions  will  intenerate 

*  Eccles.  xir.  1. 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  51 

and  soften  our  consciences,  so  that  they  shall  be  impatient 
of  any  rudeness  or  heavier  load  ;  and  he  that  is  used  to 
shrink,  when  he  is  pressed  with  a  ])ranch  of  twining  osier, 
will  not  willing'ly  stand  in  the  ruins  of  a  house,  when  the 
beam  dashes  upon  the  pavement.  And  provided  that  our 
nice  and  tender  spirit,  be  not  vexed  into  scruple,  nor  the 
scruple  turn  into  unreasonable  fears,  nor  the  fears  into  su- 
l)erstition  ;  he,  that,  by  any  arts,  can  make  his  spirit  tender 
and  aj)t  for  religious  impression,  hath  made  the  fairest  seat 
for  religion,  and  the  unaptest  and  uneasicst  entertainment 
for  sin  and  eternal  death,  in  the  whole  world. 

4.  A  frequent  examination  of  the  smallest  parts  of  our 
lives  is  the  best  instrument  to  make  our  repejitance  parti- 
cular, and  a  fit  remedy  to  all  the  members  of  the  whole 
body  of  sin.  For  our  examination,  put  off  to  our  death- 
bed, of  necessity  brings  us  into  this  condition,  that  very 
many  thousands  of  our  sins  must  be  (or  not  be  at  all)  washed 
off  with  a  general  repentance,  which,  the  more  general  and 
indefinite  it  is,  it  is  ever  so  much  the  worse.  And  if  he 
that  repents  the  longest  and  the  oftenest,  and  upon  the 
most  instances,  is  still,  during  his  whole  life,  but  an  im- 
perfect penitent,  and  there  are  very  many  reserves  left  to 
be  wiped  off  by  God's  mercies,  and  to  be  eased  by  collateral 
assistances,  or  to  be  groaned  for  at  the  terrible  day  of  judg- 
ment ;  it  will  be  but  a  sad  story  to  consider,  that  the  sins 
of  a  whole  life,  or  of  very  great  portions  of  it,  shall  be  put 
upon  the  remedy  of  one  examination,  and  the  advices  of  one 
discourse,  and  the  activities  of  a  decayed  body,  and  a  weak 
and  an  amazed  spirit.  Let  us  do  the  best  we  can,  we  shall 
find  that  the  mere  sins  of  ignorance  and  unavoidable  for- 
getfulness  will  be  enough  to  be  intrusted  to  such  a  bank; 
and  that  if  a  general  repentance  will  serve  towards  their 
expiation,  it  will  be  an  infinite  mercy  :  but  we  have  nothing 
to  warrant  our  confidence,  if  we  shall  think  it  to  be  enough 
on  our  death-bed  to  confess  the  notorious  actions  of  our 
lives,  and  to  say,  "  The  Lord  be  merciful  to  me  for  the  infi-^ 
nite  transgressions  of  my  life,  which  I  have  wilfully  or 
carelessly  forgot ;"  for  very  many,  of  which  the  repent- 
ance, the  distinct,  particular,  circumstantiate  repentance  of 
a  whole  life  would  have  been  too  little,  if  we  could  have 
done  more. 

5.  After  the  enumeration   of  these  advantages,  I  shall 
not  need  to  add,  that  if  we  decline  or  refuse  to  call  our- 


52  GENERAL  i^.v^uw.fcES 

selves  frequently  to  account,  and  to  use  daily  advices  con- 
cerning the  state  of  our  souls,  it  is  a  very  ill  sign,  that  our 
souls  are  not  right  with  God,  or  that  they  do  not  dwell  in 
religion.  But  this  I  shall  say,  that  they  who  do  use  this 
exercise  frequently,  will  make  their  conscience  much  at 
ease  by  casting  out  a  daily  load  of  humour  and  surfeit,  the 
matter  of  diseases  and  the  instruments  of  death.  "He  that 
does  not  frequently  search  his  conscience,  is  a  house  with- 
out a  window,"  and  like  a  wild  untutored  son  of  a  fond  and 
undiscerning  widow. 

But  if  this  exercise  seem  too  great  a  trouble,  and  that  by 
such  advices  religion  will  seem  a  burden ;  I  have  two  things 
to  oppose  against  it. 

1.  One  is,  that  we  had  better  bear  the  burden  of  the  Lord, 
than  the  burden  of  a  base  and  polluted  conscience.  Religion 
cannot  be  so  great  a  trouble  as  a  guilty  soul ;  and  whatso- 
ever trouble  can  be  fancied  in  this  or  any  other  action  of  re- 
ligion, it  is  only  to  inexperienced  persons.  It  may  be  a 
trouble  at  first,  just  as  is  every  change  and  every  new  acci- 
dent :  but  if  you  do  it  frequently,  and  accustom  your  spirit 
to  it,  as  the  custom  will  make  it  easy,  so  the  advantages 
will  make  it  delectable ;  that  will  make  it  facile  as  nature, 
these  will  make  it  as  pleasant  and  eligible  as  reward. 

2.  The  other  thing  I  have  to  say  is  this ;  that  to  examine 
our  lives  will  be  no  trouble,  if  we  do  not  intricate  it  with 
businesses  of  the  world,  and  the  labyrinths  of  care  and 
impertinent  affairs.  A  man  had  need  have  a  quiet  and  dis- 
entangled life,  who  comes  to  search  into  all  his  actions,  and 
to  make  judgment  concerning  his  errors  and  his  needs, 
his  remedies  and  his  hopes.  They  that  have  great  intrigues 
of  the  world,  have  a  yoke  upon  their  necks,  and  cannot  look 
back ;  and  he  that  covets  many  things  greedily,  and  snatches 
at  high  things  ambitiously,  that  despises  his  neighbour 
proudly,  and  bears  his  crosses  peevishly,  or  his  prosperity 
impotently  and  passionately ;  he  that  is  prodigal  of  his 
precious  time,  and  is  tenacious  and  retentive  of  evil  pur- 
poses, is  not  a  man  disposed  to  this  exercise  ;  he  hath 
reason  to  be  afraid  of  his  own  memory,  and  to  dash  his 
glass  in  pieces,  because  it  must  needs  represent  to  his  own 
eyes  an  intolerable  deformity.  He  therefore  that  resolves 
to  live  well,  whatsoever  it  costs  him;  he  that  will  go  to 
heaven  at  any  rate,  shall  best  tend  this  duty  by  neglecting 
the  affairs  of  the  world  in  all  things,  where  prudently  he 


PREPAIIATORY  TO  DEATH.  53 

may.  But  if  we  do  otherwise,  we  sliall  find  that  the  ac- 
counts of  our  deatii-bcd  and  the  examination  made  by  a 
disturbed  undcrstandin<r  will  be  very  empty  of  comfort  and 
full  of  inconveniences. 

6.  For  hence  it  comes,  that  men  die  so  timorously  and 
uncomfortably,  as  if  they  were  forced  out  of  their  lives 
by  the  violences  of  an  executioner.  Then,  without  much 
examination,  they  remember  how  wickedly  they  have  lived, 
without  religion,  against  the  laws  of  the  covenant  of  grace, 
without  God  in  the  world  :  then  they  see  sin  goes  off  like 
an  amazed,  wounded,  alVrighted  person  from  a  lost  battle, 
without  a  veil,  with  nothing  but  shame  and  sad  remem- 
brances: then  they  can  consider,  that  if  they  had  lived 
virtuously,  all  the  trouble  and  objection  of  that  would  now 
be  past,  and  all  that  had  remained,  should  be  peace  and 
joy,  and  all  that  good,  which  dwells  within  the  house  of 
God,  and  eternal  life.  But  now  they  find,  they  have  done 
amiss  and  dealt  wickedly,  they  have  no  bank  of  good  works, 
but  a  huge  treasure  of  wrath,  and  they  are  going  to  a 
strange  place,  and  what  shall  be  their  lot  is  uncertain ;  (so 
they  say,  when  they  would  comfort  and  flatter  themselves  ;) 
but  in  truth  of  religion  their  portion  is  sad  and  intolerable, 
without  hope  and  without  refreshment,  and  they  must  use 
little  silly  arts  to  make  them  go  oflffrom  their  stage  of  sins 
with  some  handsome  circumstances  of  opinion :  they  will 
in  civility  be  abused,  that  they  may  die  quietly,  and  go 
decently  to  their  execution,  and  leave  their  friends  indif- 
ferently contented,  and  apt  to  be  comforted  ;  and  by  that 
time  they  are  gone  awhile,  they  see  that  they  deceived 
themselves  all  their  days,  and  were  by  others  deceived  at 
last. 

Let  us  make  it  our  own  case  ;  we  shall  come  to  that  state 
and  period  of  condition,  in  which  we  shall  be  infinitely 
comforted,  if  we  have  lived  well;  or  else  be  amazed  and 
go  oflf  trembling,  because  we  are  guilty  of  heaps  of  unre- 
pented  and  unforsaken  sins.  It  may  happen,  we  shall  not 
then  understand  it  so,  because  most  men  of  late  ages  have 
been  abused  with  false  principles,  and  they  are  taught  (or 
they  are  willing  to  believe)  that  a  little  thing  is  enough  to 
save  them,  and  that  heaven  is  so  cheap  a  purchase,  that  it 
will  fall  upon  them,  whether  they  will  or  no.  The  misery 
of  it  is,  they  will  not  suflfer  themselves  to  be  confuted,  till 
it  be  too  late  to  recant  their  error.  In  the  interiin,  they 
e2  2  u2 


54  GENERAL  EXERCISES 

are  impatient  to  be  examined,  as  a  leper  is  of  a  comb,  and 
are  greedy  of  the  world,  as  children  of  raw  fruit ;  and  they 
hate  a  severe  reproof,  as  they  do  thorns  in  their  bed ;  and 
they  love  to  lay  aside  religion,  as  a  drunken  person  does 
to  forget  his  sorrow  :  and  all  the  way  they  dream  of  fine 
things,  and  their  dreams  prove  contrary,  and  become  the 
hieroglypliics  of  an  eternal  sorrow.  The  daughter  of  Poly- 
cratcs  dreamed,  that  her  father  was  lifted  up,  and  that 
Jupiter  washed  him,  and  the  sun  anointed  him  ;  but  it 
proved  to  him  but  a  sad  prosperity :  for  after  a  long  life 
of  constant  prosperous  successes  he  was  surprised  by  his 
enemies,  and  hanged  up  till  the  dew  of  heaven  wet  his 
cheeks,  and  the  sun  melted  his  grease.  Such  is  the  con- 
dition of  those  persons  who,  living  either  in  the  despite  or 
in  the  neglect  of  religion,  lie  wallowing  in  the  drunkenness 
of  prosperity  or  worldly  cares ;  they  think  themselves  to 
be  exalted,  till  the  evil  day  overtakes  them;  and  then  they 
can  expound  their  dream  of  life  to  end  in  a  sad  and  hope- 
less death.  I  remember  that  Cleomenes  was  called  a  god 
by  the  Egyptians,  because  when  he  was  hanged,  a  serpent 
grew  out  of  his  body,  and  wrapped  itself  about  his  head ; 
til]  the  philosophers  of  Egypt  said,  it  was  natural,  that  from 
the  marrow  of  some  bodies  such  productions  should  arise. 
And  indeed  it  represents  the  condition  of  some  men,  who, 
being  dead,  are  esteemed  saints  and  beatified  persons,  when 
their  head  is  encircled  with  dragons,  and  is  entered  into 
the  possession  of  devils,  that  old  serpent  and  deceiver. 
For  indeed  their  life  was  secretly  so  corrupted,  that  such 
serpents  fed  upon  the  ruins  of  the  spirit,  and  the  decays 
of  grace  and  reason.  To  be  cozened  in  making  judgments 
concerning  our  final  condition  is  extremely  easy  ;  but  if  we 
be  cozened,  we  are  infinitely  miserable. 

SECTION  III. 

Of  exercising  Charity  during  our  whole  Life. 

He  that  would  die  well  and  happily,  must,  in  his  life- 
time, according  to  all  his  capacities,  exercise  charity ;  and 
because  religion  is  the  life  of  the  soul,  and  charity  is  the 
life  of  religion,  the  same  which  gives  life  to  the  better  part 
of  man,  which  never  dies,  may  obtain  of  God  mercy  to  the 
inferior  part  of  man  in  the  day  of  its  dissolution. 

1.  Charity  is  the  great  channel,  through  which  God 
passes  all  his  mercy  upon  mankind.     For  we  receive  abso 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  55 

lution  of  our  sins  in  proportion  to  our  forgiving  our  brother. 
This  is  the  rule  of  our  hopes,  and  the  measure  of  our  de- 
sire in  tliis  world ;  and  in  the  day  of  death  and  judgment 
the  great  sentence  upon  mankind  shall  be  transacted  ac- 
cording to  our  alms,  which  is  the  other  part  of  charity. 
Certain  it  is,  that  God  cannot,  will  not,  never  did,  reject  a 
charitable  man  in  his  greatest  needs  and  in  his  most  pas- 
sionate prayer ;  for  God  himself  is  love,  and  every  degree 
of  charity  that  dwells  in  us,  is  the  participation  of  the  Di- 
vine nature  ;  and  therefore,  when  upon  our  death-bed  a 
cloud  covers  our  head,  and  we  are  enwrapped  with  sorrow; 
when  we  feel  the  weight  of  a  sickness,  and  do  not  feel  the 
refreshing  visitations  of  God's  loving  kindness ;  when  we 
have  many  things  to  trouble  us,  and  looking  round  about 
us  we  see  no  comforter;  then  call  to  mind,  what  injuries 
you  have  forgiven,  how  apt  you  were  to  pardon  all  affronts 
and  real  persecutions,  how  you  embraced  peace,  when  it 
was  offered  you,  how  you  followed  after  peace,  when  it  ran 
from  you :  and  when  you  are  weary  of  one  side,  turn  upon 
the  other,  and  remember  the  alms,  that  by  the  grace  of  God 
and  his  assistances,  you  have  done,  and  look  up  to  God,  and 
with  the  eye  of  faith  behold  him  coming  in  the  cloud,  and 
pronouncing  the  sentence  of  doomsday  according  to  his 
mercies  and  thy  charity. 

2.  Charity  with  its  twin-daughters,  alms  and  forgiveness, 
is  especially  effectual  for  the  procuring  God's  mercies  in 
the  day  and  the  manner  of  our  death.  "  Alms  deliver  from 
death,"  said  old  Tobias  ;*  and  "  Alms  make  an  atonement 
for  sins,"  said  the  son  of  Sirach :"]"  and  so  said  Daniel,:}:  and 
so  say  all  the  wise  men  of  the  world.  And  in  this  sense 
also,  is  that  of  St.  Peter,§  "  Love  covers  a  multitude  of 
sins ;"  and  St.  Clement  in  his  Constitutions  gives  this 
counsel,  "  If  you  have  any  thing  in  your  hands,  give  it, 
that  it  may  work  to  the  remission  of  thy  sins  :  for  by  faith 
and  alms  sins  are  purged."  The  same  also  is  the  counsel 
of  Salvian,  who  wonders,  that  men,  who  are  guilty  of  great 
and  many  sins,  Avill  not  work  out  their  pardon  by  alms  and 
mercy.  But  this  also  must  be  added  out  of  the  words  of 
Lactantius,  who  makes  this  rule  complete  and  useful ;  "  But 
think  not,  because  sins  are  taken  away  by  alms,  that,  by 
ihy  money,  thou  may  est  purchase  a  licence  to  sin.     For 

*  Tob.  iv.  10.  xii.  9.  t  Eccles.  iii.  30.  t  Dan.  iv.  27. 

§  1  Pet.  iv.  8.  Isa.  i.  17. 


56 


GENERAL  EXERCISES 


sins  are  abolished,  if,  because  thou  hast  sinned,  thou  givest 
to  God,"  ihat  is,  to  God's  poor  servants,  and  his  indigent 
necessitous  creatures  :  but  if  thou  sinnest  upon  confidence 
of  giving,  thy  sins  are  not  abolished.  For  God  desires  in- 
finitely, that  men  should  be  purged  from  their  sins,  and 
therefore  commands  us  to  repent ;  but  to  repent  is  nothing 
else  but  to  profess  and  affirm  (that  is,  to  purpose,  and  to 
make  good  that  purpose)  that  they  will  sin  no  more. 

Now  alms  are  therefore  effective  to  the  abolition  and 
pardon  of  our  sins,  because  they  are  preparatory  to,  and 
impetratory  of,  the  grace  of  repentance,  and  are  fruits  of 
repentance  :  and  therefore  St.  Chrysostom  affirms,  that  re- 
pentance without  alms  is  dead,  and  without  wings,  and  can 
never  soar  upwards  to  the  element  of  love.  But  because 
they  are  a  part  of  repentance,  and  hugely  pleasing  to  Al- 
mighty God,  therefore  they  deliver  us  from  the  evils  of  an 
unhappy  and  accursed  death ;  for  so  Christ  delivered  his 
disciples  from  the  sea,  when  he  appeased  the  storm,  though 
they  still  sailed  in  the  channel :  and  this  St.  Jerome  verifies 
with  all  his  reading  and  experience,  saying,  "  I  do  not  re- 
member to  have  read,  that  ever  any  charitable  person  died 
an  evil  death."  And  although  a  long  experience  hath  ob- 
served God's  mercies  to  descend  upon  charitable  people, 
like  the  dew  upon  Gideon's  fleece,  when  all  the  world  was 
dry ;  yet  for  this  also  we  have  a  promise,  which  is  not  only 
an  argument  of  a  certain  number  of  years  (as  experience  is,) 
but  a  security  for  eternal  ages.  "  Make  ye  friends  of  the 
mammon  of  unrighteousness ;  that,  when  ye  fail,  they  may 
receive  you  into  everlasting  habitations."  When  faith  fails 
and  chastity  is  useless,  and  temperance  shall  be  no  more, 
then  charity  shall  bear  you  upon  wings  of  cherubim  to  the 
eternal  mountain  of  the  Lord.  "  I  have  been  a  lover  of 
mankind,  and  a  friend,  and  merciful ;  and  now  I  expect  to 
communicate  in  that  great  kindness  which  he  shows,  that 
is  the  great  God  and  father  of  men  and  mercies ;"  said 
Cyrus,  the  Persian,  on  his  death-bed. 

I  do  not  mean  this  should  only  be  a  death-bed  charity, 
any  more  than  a  death-bed  repentance ;  but  it  ought  to 
be  the  charity  of  our  life  and  healthful  years,  a  parting  with 
portions  of  our  goods  then,  when  we  can  keep  them :  we 
must  not  first  kindle  our  lights,  when  we  are  to  descend 
into  our  houses  of  darkness,  or  bring  a  glaring  torch  sud- 
denly to  a  dark  room,  that  will  amaze  the   eye,  and  not 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  67 

delight  it,  or  instruct  the  body :  but  if  our  tapers  have,  in 
their  constant  course,  descended  into  their  grave,  crowned 
all  the  way  with  light,  then  let  the  death-bed  charity  be 
doubled,  and  the  light  burn  brightest,  when  it  is  to  deck 
our  hearse.  But  concerning  this  I  shall  afterward  give 
account. 

SECTION  IV. 

General  Considerations  to  enforce  the  former  Practices. 

These  are  the  general  instruments  of  preparation  in 
order  to  a  holy  death ;  it  will  concern  us  all  to  use  them 
diligently  and  speedily  ;  for  we  must  be  long  in  doing  that 
which  must  be  done  but  once  ;  and  therefore  we  must  be- 
gin betimes,  and  lose  no  time :  especially  since  it  is  so 
great  a  venture,  and  upon  it  depends  so  great  a  state. 
Seneca  said  well,  "  There  is  no  science  or  art  in  the  world 
so  hard,  as  to  live  and  die  well :  the  professors  of  other 
arts  are  vulgar  and  many :"  but  he  that  knows  how  to  do 
this  business  is  certainly  instructed  to  eternity.  But  then 
let  me  remember  this,  that  a  wise  person  will  also  put  upon 
the  greatest  interest.  Common  prudence  will  teach  us 
this.  No  man  will  hire  a  general  to  cut  wood,  or  shake 
hay  with  a  sceptre,  or  spend  his  soul  and  all  his  faculties 
upon  the  purchase  of  a  cockle-shell :  but  he  will  fit  instru- 
ments to  the  dignity  and  exigence  of  the  design ;  and 
therefore  since  heaven  is  so  glorious  a  state,  and  so  cer- 
tainly designed  for  us,  if  we  please,  let  us  spend  all  that 
we  have,  all  our  passions  and  affections,  all  our  study  and 
industry,  all  our  desires  and  stratagems,  all  our  witty  and 
ingenious  faculties,  towards  the  arriving  thither :  whither 
if  we  do  come,  every  minute  will  infinitely  pay  for  all  the 
troubles  of  our  whole  life ;  if  we  do  not,  we  shall  have  the 
reward  of  fools,  an  unpitied  and  an  upbraided  misery. 

To  this  purpose  I  shall  represent  the  state  of  dying  and 
dead  men  in  the  devout  words  of  some  of  the  fathers  of 
the  church,  whose  sense  I  shall  exactly  keep,  but  change 
their  order;  that  by  placing  some  of  their  dispersed  medi- 
tations into  a  chain  or  sequel  of  discourse,  I  may  with 
their  precious  stones  make  a  union,  and  compose  them 
into  a  jewel  :  for  though  the  meditation  is  plain  and  easy, 
yet  it  is  aflSectionate,  and  material,  and  true  and  necessary. 


58  GENERAL  EXERCISES 

The  circumstances  of  a  Dying  Man's  sorrow  and  Danger. 

When  the  sentence  of  death  is  decreed,  and  begins  to 
be  put  into  execution,  it  is  sorrow  enough  to  see  or  feel  re- 
spectively the  sad  accents  of  the  agony  and  last  contentions 
of  the  soul,  and  the  reluctances  and  unwillingnesses  of 
the  body :  the  forehead  washed  with  a  new  and  strangei 
baptism,  besmeared  with  a  cold  sweat,  tenacious  and 
clammy,  apt  to  make  it  cleave  to  the  roof  of  his  coffin  ;  the 
nose  cold  and  undiscerning,  not  pleased  with  perfumes, 
nor  suffering  violence  with  a  cloud  of  unwholesome  smoke ; 
the  eyes  dim  as  a  sullied  mirror,  or  the  face  of  heaven 
when  God  shows  his  anger  in  a  prodigious  storm ;  the  feet 
cold,  the  hands  stiff,  the  physicians  despairing,  our  friends 
weeping,  the  rooms  dressed  with  darkness  and  sorrow,  and 
the  exterior  parts  betraying  what  are  the  violences  which 
the  soul  and  spirit  suffer :  the  nobler  part,  like  the  lord  of 
the  house,  being  assaulted  by  exterior  rudenesses,  and 
driven  from  all  the  outworks,  at  last  faint  and  weary  with 
short  and  frequent  breathings,  interrupted  with  the  longer 
accents  of  sighs,  without  moisture,  but  the  excrescences  of 
a  spilt  humour,  when  the  pitcher  is  broken  at  the  cistern, 
it  retires  to  its  last  fort,  the  heart ;  whither  it  is  pursued, 
and  stormed,  and  beaten  out,  as  when  the  barbarous  Thra- 
cian  sacked  the  glory  of  the  Grecian  empire.  Then  calam- 
ity is  great,  and  sorrow  rules  in  all  the  capacities  of  man ; 
then  the  mourners  weep,  because  it  is  civil,  or  because  they 
need  thee,  or  because  they  fear ;  but  who  suffers  for  thee 
with  a  compassion  sharp  as  is  thy  pain?  Then  the  noise  is 
like  the  faint  echo  of  a  distant  valley,  and  iew  hear,  and 
they  will  not  regard  thee,  who  seemest  like  a  person  void 
of  understanding  and  of  a  departing  interest.  Vere  tre- 
mendum  est  mortis  sacramentum.  But  these  accidents  are 
common  to  all  that  die ;  and  when  a  special  Providence 
shall  distinguish  them,  they  shall  die  with  easy  circum- 
stances ;  but  as  no  piety  can  secure  it,  so  must  no  con- 
fidence expect  it;  but  wait  for  the  time,  and  accept  the 
manner  of  the  dissolution.  But  that  which  distinguishes 
them,  is  this : 

He  that  hath  lived  a  wicked  life,  if  his  conscience  be 
alarmed,  and  that  he  does  not  die  like  a  wolf  or  a  tiger, 
without  sense  or  remorse  of  all  his  wildncss  and  his 
injury,  his  beastly  nature,  and  desert  and  untilled  man- 
ners, if  he  have  but  sense  of  what   he  is  going  to   suf 


PREPARATORY  TO  DEATH.  59 

fer,  or  what  he  may  expect  to  be  his  portion ;  then  we  may 
imagine  the  terror  of  tlieir  abused  fancies,  how  they  see 
aftrighti ng  shapes,  and  because  they  fear  them,  they  feel 
the  gripes  of  devils,  urging  the  unwilling  souls  from  the 
kinder  and  fast  eml)raccs  of  the  body,  calling  to  the  grave, 
and  hastening  to  judgment,  exhibiting  great  bills  of  uncan- 
celled crimes,  awaking  and  amazing  the  conscience,  break- 
ing  all  their  hope  in  pieces,  and  making  faith  useless  and 
terrible,  because  the  malice  was  great,  and  the  charity  was 
none  at  all.  Then  they  look  for  some  to  have  pity  on  them, 
but  there  is  no  man.  No  man  dares  be  their  pledge  :  no 
man  can  redeem  their  soul  which  now  feels  what  it  never 
feared.  Then  the  tremblings  and  the  sorrow,  the  memory 
of  the  past  sin  and  the  fear  of  future  pains,  and  the  sense 
of  an  angry  God,  and  the  presence  of  some  devils,  consign 
him  to  the  eternal  company  of  all  the  damned  and  accursed 
spirits.  Then  they  want  an  angel  for  their  guide,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  for  their  comforter,  and  a  good  conscience  for 
their  testimony,  and  Christ  for  their  advocate,  and  they  die 
and  are  left  in  prisons  of  earth  or  air,  in  secret  and  undis- 
cerned  regions,  to  weep  and  tremble,  and  infinitely  to  fear 
the  coming  of  the  day  of  Christ ;  at  which  time  they  shall 
be  brought  forth  to  change  their  condition  into  a  worse, 
where  they  shall  for  ever  feel  more  than  we  can  believe  or 
understand. 

But  when  a  good  man  dies,  one  that  hath  lived  innocently, 
or  made  joy  in  heaven  at  his  timely  and  effective  repent- 
ance, and  in  whose  behalf  the  holy  Jesus  hath  interceded 
prosperously,  and  for  whose  interest  the  Spirit  makes  in- 
terpellations with  groans  and  sighs  unutterable,  and  in 
whose  defence  the  angels  drive  away  the  devils  on  his 
death-bed,  because  his  sins  are  pardoned,  and  because  he 
resisted  the  devil  in  his  lifetime,  and  fought  successfully, 
and  persevered  unto  the  end;  then  the  joys  break  forth 
through  the  clouds  of  sickness,  and  the  conscience  stands 
upright  and  confesses  the  glories  of  God,  and  owns  so 
much  integrity,  that  it  can  hope  for  pardon,  and  obtain  it 
too  :  then  the  sorrows  of  the  sickness,  and  the  flames  of 
the  fever,  or  the  faintness  of  the  consumption,  do  but  untie 
the  soul  from  its  chain,  nnd  let  it  go  forth,  first  into  liberty 
and  then  to  glory  :  for  it  is  but  for  a  little  while  that  the 
face  of  the  sky  was  black,  like  the  preparations  of  the 
night,  but  quickly  the  cloud  was  torn  and  rent,  the  violence 


60  ge:neral  exercises,  &c. 

of  thunder  parted  it  into  little  portions,  that  the  sun  might 
look  forth  with  a  watery  eye,  and  then  shine  without  a  tear. 
But  it  is  an  infinite  refreshment  to  remember  all  the  com- 
forts of  his  prayers,  the  frequent  victory  over  his  tempta- 
tions, the  mortification  of  his  lust,  the  noblest  sacrifice  to 
God,  in  which  he  most  delights,  that  we  have  given  him 
our  wills,  and  killed  our  appetites  for  the  interest  of  his 
services :  then  all  the  trouble  of  that  is  gone ;  and  what  re- 
mains is  a  portion  in  the  inheritance  of  Jesus,  of  which  he 
now  talks  no  more  as  a  thing  at  distance,  but  is  entering 
into  the  possession.  When  the  veil  is  rent,  and  the  prison- 
doors  are  open  at  the  presence  of  God's  angel,  the  soul  goes 
forth  full  of  hope,  sometimes  with  evidence,  but  always 
with  certainty  in  the  thing,  and  instantly  it  passes  into  the 
throngs  of  spirits,  where  angels  meet  in  singing,  and  the 
devils  flock  with  malicious  and  vile  purposes,  desiring  to 
lead  it  away  with  them  into  their  houses  of  sorrow :  there 
they  see  things  which  they  never  saw,  and  hear  voices 
which  they  never  heard.  There  the  devils  charge  them 
with  many  sins,  and  the  angels  remember,  that  themselves 
rejoiced,  when  they  were  repented  of.  Then  the  devils  ag- 
gravate  and  describe  all  the  circumstances  of  the  sin,  and 
add  calumnies ;  and  the  angels  bear  the  soul  forward  still, 
because  the  Lord  doth  answer  for  them.  Then  the  devils 
rage  and  gnash  their  teeth ;  they  see  the  soul  chaste  and 
pure,  and  they  are  ashamed ;  they  see  it  penitent,  and  they 
despair ;  they  perceive,  that  the  tongue  was  refrained  and 
sanctified,  and  then  hold  their  peace.  Then  the  soul  passes 
forth  and  rejoices,  passing  by  the  devils  in  scorn  and  tri- 
umph, being  securely  carried  into  the  bosom  of  the  Lord, 
where  they  shall  rest,  till  their  crow^ns  are  finished,  and 
their  mansions  are  prepared ;  and  then  they  shall  feast  and 
sing,  rejoice  and  worship,  for  ever  and  ever.  Fearful  and 
formidable  to  unholy  persons  is  the  first  meeting  with  spi- 
rits in  their  separation.  But  the  victory,  which  holy  souls 
receive  by  the  mercies  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  conduct  of 
angels,  is  a  joy  that  we  must  not  understand  till  we  feel 
it :  and  yet  such  which  by  an  early  and  a  persevering  piety 
we  may  secure ;  but  let  us  inquire  after  it  no  further,  be- 
cause it  is  secret. 


REMEDIES  OF  TEMPTATIONS,  &c.  Gl 

CHAPTER  III. 

OF  THE    STATE    OP    SICKNESS,  AND    THE    TEMPTATIONS    INCI- 
DENT TO  IT,  WITH  THEIR  PROPER  REMEDIES. 

SECTION   I. 

Of  the  State  of  Sickness. 

Adam's  sin  brought  death  into  the  world,  and  man  did 
die  the  same  day  in  which  he  sinned,  according  as  God  had 
threatened.  He  did  not  die,  as  death  is  taken  for  a  sepa- 
ration of  soul  and  body ;  that  is  not  death  properly,  but 
the  ending  of  the  last  act  of  death  ;  just  as  a  man  is  said 
to  be  born,  when  he  ceases  any  longer  to  be  born  in  his 
mother's  womb :  but  whereas  to  man  was  intended  a  life 
long  and  happy,  without  sickness,  sorrow,  or  infelicity,  and 
this  life  should  be  lived  here  or  in  a  better  place,  and  the 
passage  from  one  to  the  other  should  have  been  easy,  safe, 
and  pleasant,  now  that  man  sinned,  he  fell  from  that  state, 
to  a  contrary. 

If  Adam  had  stood,  he  should  not  always  have  lived  in 
this  world ;  for  this  world  was  not  a  place  capable  of 
giving  a  dwelling  to  all  those  myriads  of  men  and  women 
which  should  have  been  born  in  all  the  generations  of  infi- 
nite and  eternal  ages  ;  for  so  it  must  have  been,  if  man 
had  not  died  at  all,  nor  yet  have  removed  hence  at  all. 
Neither  is  it  likely  that  man's  innocence  should  have  lost 
to  him  all  possibility  of  going  thither,  where  the  duration  is 
better,  measured  by  a  better  time,  subject  to  fewer  ciianges, 
and  which  is  now  the  reward  of  a  returning  virtue,  which 
in  all  natural  senses  is  less  than  innocence,  save  that  it  is 
heightened  by  Christ  to  an  equality  of  acceptation  with  the 
state  of  innocence :  but  so  it  must  have  been,  that  his  in- 
nocence should  have  been  punished  with  an  eternal  con- 
finement to  this  state,  which  in  all  reason  is  the  less  per- 
fect, the  state  of  a  traveller,  not  of  one  possessed  of  his 
inheritance.  It  is  therefore  certain,  man  should  have 
changed  his  abode  :  for  so  did  Enoch,  and  so  did  Elias,  and 
so  shall  all  the  world,  that  shall  be  alive  at  the  day  of  judg- 
ment ;  they  shall  not  die,  but  they  shall  change  their  place 
and  their  abode,  their  duration  and  their  state,  and  all  this 
without  death. 

That  death,  therefore,  which  God  threatened  to  Adam, 
/  21 


Q2  TlIK  REMEDIES  OF  TEMPTATIONS 

and  which  passed  upon  his  posterity,  is  not  the  going  oat 
of  this  world,  but  the  manner  of  going.  If  he  had  stayed 
in  innocence,  he  should  have  gone  from  hence  placidly  and 
fairly,  without  vexatious  and  afflictive  circumstances ;  he 
should  not  have  died  by  sickness,  misfortune,  defect,  or 
unwillingness :  but  when  he  fell,  then  he  began  to  die  ; 
the  same  day,  (so  said  God  :)  and  that  must  needs  be  true ; 
and  therefore  it  must  mean,  that  upon  that  very  day,  he 
fell  into  an  evil  and  dangerous  condition,  a  state  of  change 
and  affliction ;  then  death  began,  that  is,  the  man  began  to 
die  by  a  natural  diminution,  and  aptness  to  disease  and 
misery.  His  first  state  was,  and  should  have  been  (so  long- 
as  it  lasted)  a  happy  duration ;  his  second,  was  a  daily  and 
miserable  change  ;  and  this  Avas  the  dying  properly. 

This  appears  in  the  great  instance  of  damnation,  which, 
in  the  style  of  Scripture,  is  called  eternal  death ;  not  be- 
cause it  kills  or  ends  the  duration ;  it  hath  not  so  much 
good  in  it ;  but  because  it  is  a  perpetual  infelicity.  Change 
or  separation  of  soul  and  body  is  but  accidental  to  death ; 
death  may  be  with  or  without  either ;  but  the  formality,  the 
curse,  and  the  sting  of  death,  that  is,  misery,  sorrow,  fear, 
diminution,  defect,  anguish,  dishonour,  and  whatsoever  is 
miserable  and  afflictive  in  nature,  that  is  death.  Death  is 
not  an  action,  but  a  whole  state  and  condition  ;  and  this 
was  first  brought  in  upon  us  by  the  offence  of  one  man. 

But  this  went  no  farther  than  thus  to  subject  us  to  tem- 
poral infelicity.  If  it  had  proceeded  so  far  as  was  sup- 
posed, man  had  been  much  more  miserable  ;  for  man  had 
more  than  one  original  sin,  in  this  sense  ;  and  though  this 
death  entered  first  upon  us  by  Adam's  fault,  yet  it  came 
nearer  unto  us  and  increased  upon  us  by  the  sins  of  more  of 
our  forefathers.  For  Adam's  sin  left  us  in  strength  enough 
to  contend  with  human  calamities  for  almost  a  thousand 
years  together.  But  the  sins  of  his  children,  our  fore- 
fathers, took  off"  from  us  half  the  strength  about  the  time 
of  the  flood ;  and  then  from  five  hundred  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty,  and  from  thence  to  one  hundred  and  twenty,  and 
from  thence  to  threescore  and  ten ;  so  often  halving  it  till 
it  is  almost  come  to  nothing.  But  by  the  sins  of  men  in 
the  several  generations  of  the  world,  death,  that  is,  misery 
and  disease  is  hastened  so  upon  us,  that  we  are  of  a  con- 
temptible age :  and  because  we  are  to  die  by  suffering  evils, 
and  by  the  daily  lessening  of  our  strength  and  health ; 


PROPER  IN  SICKNESS.  63 

this  death  is  so  lono-  u  doing,  that  it  mnkcs  so  great  a  part 
of  our  short  life  useless  and  unserviceable,  that  we  have 
not  time  enough  to  get  the  perfection  of  a  single  manufac- 
ture, but  ten  or  twelve  generations  of  the  world  must  go  to 
the  making  uj)  of  one  wise  man,  or  one  excellent  art :  and 
in  the  succession  of  those  ages  there  happen  so  many 
changes  and  interruptions,  so  many  wars  and  violences, 
that  seven  years'  fighting  sets  a  whole  kingdom  back  in 
learning  and  virtue,  to  which  they  were  creeping,  it  may 
be,  a  whole  age. 

And  thus  also  we  do  evil  to  our  posterity,  as  Adam  did  to 
his,  and  Cham  to  his,  and  Eli  to  his,  and  all  they  to  theirs, 
who  by  sins  caused  God  to  shorten  the  life  and  multiply  the 
evils  of  mankind  :  and  for  this  reason  it  is,  the  world  grows 
worse  and  worse,  because  so  many  original  sins  are  multi- 
plied, and  so  many  evils  from  parents  descend  upon  the 
succeeding  generations  of  men,  that  they  derive  nothing 
from  us  but  original  misery. 

But  he  who  restored  the  law  of  nature,  did  also  restore 
us  to  the  condition  of  nature ;  which,  being  violated  by  the 
introduction  of  death,  Christ  then  repaired,  when  he  suf- 
fered and  overcame  death  for  us ;  that  is,  he  hath  taken 
away  the  unhappiness  of  sickness,  and  the  sting  of  death, 
and  the  dishonours  of  the  grave,  of  dissolution  and  weak- 
ness, of  decay  and  change,  and  hath  turned  them  into  acts 
of  favour,  into  instances  of  comfort,  into  opportunities  of 
virtue ;  Christ  hath  now  knit  them  into  rosaries  and  coro- 
nets ;  he  hath  put  them  into  promises  and  rewards ;  he  hath 
made  them  part  of  the  portion  of  his  elect ;  they  are  instru- 
ments, and  earnests,  and  securities,  and  passages,  to  the 
greatest  perfection  of  human  nature,  and  the  Divine  pro- 
mises. So  that  it  is  possible  for  us  now  to  be  reconciled  to 
sickness;  it  came  in  by  sin,  and  therefore  is  cured,  when  it 
is  turned  into  virtue;  and  although  it  may  have  in  it  the 
uneasiness  of  labour,  yet  it  will  not  be  uneasy  as  sin,  or  the 
restlessness  of  a  discomposed  conscience.  If,  therefore,  we 
can  well  manage  our  state  of  sickness,  that  we  may  not  fall 
by  pain,  as  we  usually  do  by  pleasure,  we  need  not  fear ; 
for  no  evil  shall  happen  to  us. 


64  OF  IMPATIENCE. 

SECTION  11. 

Of  the  first  Temptation  proper  to  the  state  of  Sickness, 
Impatience. 

Men,  that  are  in  health,  arc  severe  exactors  of  patience 
at  the  hands  of  them  that  are  sick ;  and  they  usually  judge 
it  not  by  terms  of  relation  between  God  and  the  suffering 
man,  but  between  him  and  the  friends  that  stand  by  the 
l)ed-sidc.  It  will  be  therefore  necessary,  that  we  truly  un- 
derstand, to  what  duties  and  actions  the  patience  of  a  sick- 
man  ought  to  extend. 

1.  Sighs  and  groans,  sorrow  and  prayers,  humble  com- 
l)laints  and  dolorous  expressions,  are  the  sad  accents  of  a 
sick  man's  language  :  for  it  is  not  to  be  expected,  that  a 
sick  man  should  act  a  part  of  patience  with  a  countenance 
like  an  orator,  or  grave  like  a  dramatic  person  :  it  were  well, 
if  all  men  could  bear  an  exterior  decency  in  their  sickness, 
and  regulate  their  voice,  their  face,  their  discourse,  and  all 
their  circumstances,  by  the  measures  and  proportions  of 
comeliness  and  satisfaction  to  all  the  standers  by.  But 
this  would  better  please  them,  than  assist  him ;  the  sick 
man  would  do  more  good  to  others,  than  he  w^ould  receive 
to  himself. 

2.  Therefore,  silence  and  still  composures,  and  not  com- 
l)laining,  are  no  parts  of  a  sick  man's  duty ;  they  are  not 
necessary  parts  of  patience.  We  find,  that  David  roared 
for  the  very  disquiet  of  his  sickness  :  and  he  lay  chattering 
like  a  swallow,  and  his  throat  was  dry  with  calling  for  help 
upon  his  God.  That's  the  proper  voice  of  sickness ;  and 
certain  it  is,  that  the  proper  voices  of  sickness  are  express- 
ly vocal  and  petitory  in  the  ears  of  God,  and  call  for  pity 
in  the  same  accent,  as  the  cries  and  oppressions  of  widows 
and  orphans  do  for  vengeance  upon  their  persecutors, 
though  they  say  no  collect  against  tliem.  For  there  is  the 
voice  of  man,  and  there  is  the  voice  of  the  disease,  and 
God  hears  both ;  and  the  louder  the  disease  speaks,  there 
is  the  greater  need  of  mercy  and  pity,  and  therefore  God 
will  the  sooner  hear  it.  Abel's  blood  had  a  voice,  and 
cried  to  God ;  and  humility  hath  a  voice,  and  cries  so  loud 
to  God,  that  it  pierces  the  clouds  ;  and  so  hath  every  sor- 
row and  every  sickness ;  and  when  a  man  cries  out,  and 
complains  but  according  to  the  sorrows  of  his  pain,  it  can- 


OF  IMPATiEAX'E.  65 

not  be  any  })art  of  a  culpable  impatience,  bill  an  argument 
for  pity. 

3.  Some  men's  senses  are  so  subtile,  and  their  percep- 
tions so  quick  and  full  of  relish,  aud  their  spirits  so  active, 
that  the  same  load  is  double  upon  them,  to  what  it  is  to 
another  person  :  and  therefore  comparing-  the  expressions 
of  the  one  to  the  silence  of  the  other,  a  different  judgment 
cannot  be  made  concerning  their  patience.  Some  natures 
are  querulous,  and  melancholy,  and  soft,  and  nice,  and 
tender,  and  weeping,  and  expressive  ;  others  are  sullen, 
dull,  without  apprehension,  apt  to  tolerate  and  carry  bur- 
dens :  and  the  crucifixion  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  falling 
upon  a  delicate  and  virgin  body,  of  curious  temper,  and 
strict,  equal  composition,  was  naturally  more  full  of  tor- 
ment than  that  of  the  ruder  thieves,  whose  proportions 
were  coarser  and  uneven. 

4.  In  this  case,  it  was  no  imprudent  advice,  whicli  Ci- 
cero gave  :  nothing  in  the  w^orld  is  more  amiable  than  an 
even  temper  in  our  whole  life,  and  in  every  action  :  but 
this  unevenness  cannot  be  kept,  unless  every  man  follows 
his  own  nature,  without  striving  to  imitate  the  circum- 
stances of  another.  And  what  is  so  in  the  thing  itself, 
ought  to  be  so  in  our  judgments  concerning  the  things. 
We  must  not  call  any  one  impatient,  if  he  be  not  silent  in 
a  fever,  as  if  he  \vere  asleep  :  or  as  if  he  were  dull,  as 
Herod's  son  of  Athens. 

5.  Nature,  in  some  cases,  has  made  cryings  out  and  ex- 
clamations to  be  an  entertainment  of  the  spirit,  and  an 
abatement  or  diversion  of  the  pain.  For  so  did  the  old 
champions,  when  they  threw  their  fatal  nets,  that  they  might 
load  their  enemy  with  the  snares  and  weights  of  death  ; 
they  groaned  aloud,  and  sent  forth  the  anguish  of  their 
spirit  into  the  eyes  and  heart  of  the  man  that  stood  against 
them:  so  it  is  in  the  endurance  of  some  sharp  pains;  the 
complaints  and  shriekings,  the  sharp  groans,  and  the  ten- 
der accents  send  forth  the  afflicted  spirits,  and  force  away, 
that  they  may  ease  their  oppression  and  their  load ;  that 
when  they  have  spent  some  of  their  sorrows  by  a  sally 
forth,  they  may  return  better  able  to  fortify  the  heart. 
Nothing  of  this  is  a  certain  sign,  much  less  an  action  or 
part  of  impatience  ;  and  when  our  blessed  Saviour  suffered 
his  last  and  sharpest  pang  of  sorrow,  he  cried  out  with  a 
loud  voice,  and  resolved  to  die,  and  did  so. 

/•2  2  I   2 


66  OF  PATIENCE. 

SECTION  III. 
Constituent  or  integral  parts  of  Patience. 

1.  That  we  may  secure  our  patience,  we  must  take  care, 
that  our  complaints  be  without  despair.  Despair  sins 
against  the  reputation  of  God's  goodness,  and  the  efficacy 
of  all  our  old  experience.  By  despair  we  destroy  the  great- 
est comfort  of  our  sorrows,  and  turn  our  sickness  into  the 
state  of  devils  and  perishing  souls.  No  affliction  is  greater 
than  despair  :  for  that  is  it,  which  makes  hell-fire,  and 
turns  a  natural  evil  into  an  intolerable  ;  it  hinders  prayers, 
and  fills  up  the  intervals  of  sickness  with  a  worse  torture ; 
it  makes  all  spiritual  arts  useless,  and  the  office  of  spiritual 
comforters  and  guides  to  be  impertinent. 

Against  this,  hope  is  to  be  opposed  :  and  its  proper  acts, 
as  it  relates  to  the  virtue  and  exercise  of  patience,  are,  1. 
Praying  to  God  for  help  and  remedy ;  2.  Sending  for  the 
guides  of  souls  ;  3.  Using  all  holy  exercises  and  acts  of 
grace  proper  to  that  state :  which  whoso  does,  hath  not  the 
impatience  of  despair ;  every  man  that  is  patient,  hath  hope 
in  God  in  the  day  of  his  sorrows. 

2.  Our  complaints  in  sickness  must  be  without  murmur. 
Murmur  sins  against  God's  providence  and  government: 
by  it  we  grow  rude,  and,  like  the  falling  angels,  displeased 
at  God's  supremacy  ;  and  nothing  is  more  unreasonable : 
it  talks  against  God,  for  whose  glory  all  speech  was  made  ; 
it  is  proud  and  fantastic,  hath  better  opinions  of  a  sinner 
than  of  the  Divine  justice,  and  would  rather  accuse  God 
than  himself. 

Against  this  is  opposed  that  part  of  patience,  which  re- 
signs the  man  into  the  hands  of  God,  saying,  with  old  Eli, 
"  It  is  the  Lord,  let  him  do  what  he  will ;"  and,  "  Thy  will 
be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven :"  and  so  the  admiring 
God's  justice  and  wisdom,  does  also  dispose  the  sick  per- 
son for  receiving  God's  mercy,  and  secures  him  the  ra- 
ther in  the  grace  of  God.  The  proper  acts  of  this  part  of 
patience  are,  1.  To  confess  our  sins  and  our  own  de- 
merits :  2.  It  increases  and  exercises  humility  :  3.  It  loves 
to  sing  praises  to  God,  even  from  the  lowest  abyss,  of  human 
misery. 

3.  Our  complaints  in  sickness  must  be  without  peevish- 
ness. This  sins  against  civility,  and  that  necessary  de- 
cency, which  must  be  used  towards  the  ministers,  and  as- 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE.  67 

sistants.  By  peevishness  we  increase  our  own  sorrows, 
and  arc  troublesome  to  them  that  stand  there  to  ease  ours. 
It  hath  in  it  harshness  of  nature  and  ungentleness,  wilful- 
ness and  fantastic  opinions,  morosity  and  incivility. 

Against  it  are  opposed  obedience,  tractability,  easiness  of 
persuasion,  aptness  to  take  counsel.  The  acts  of  this  part  of 
patience  are,  1.  To  obey  our  physicians;  2.  To  treat  our 
persons  with  respect  to  our  present  necessities ;  3.  Not  to 
be  ungentle  and  uneasy  to  the  ministers  and  nurses  that 
attend  us  ,*  but  to  take  their  diligent  and  kind  offices  as 
sweetly  as  we  can,  and  to  bear  their  indiscretions  or  un- 
handsome accidents  contentedly  and  without  disquietness 
within,  or  evil  language  or  angry  words  without ;  4.  Not  to 
use  unlawful  means  for  our  recovery. 

If  we  secure  these  particulars,  we  are  not  lightly  to  be 
judged  of  by  noises  and  postures,  by  colours  and  images  of 
things,  by  paleness,  or  tossings  from  side  to  side.  For  it 
were  a  hard  thing,  that  those  persons,  who  are  loaden  with 
the  greatest  of  human  calamities,  should  be  strictly  tied  to 
ceremonies  and  forms  of  things.  He  is  patient,  that  calls 
upon  God;  that  hopes  for  health  or  heaven;  that  believes 
God  is  wise  and  just  in  sending  him  afflictions;  that  con- 
fesses his  sins ;  and  accuses  himself,  and  justifies  God  ;  that 
expects  God  will  turn  this  into  good ;  that  is  civil  to  his 
physicians  and  his  servants ;  that  converses  with  the  guides 
of  souls,  the  ministers  of  religion ;  and,  in  all  things,  sub- 
mits to  God's  will,  and  would  use  no  indirect  means  for  his 
recovery ;  but  had  rather  be  sick  and  die,  than  enter  at  all 
into  God's  displeasure. 

SECTION  IV. 
Remedies  against  Impatience,  by  way  of  Consideration. 
As  it  happens  concerning  death,  so  it  is  in  sickness,  which 
is  death's  handmaid.  It  hath  the  fate  to  suffer  calumny  and 
reproach,  and  hath  a  name  worse  than  its  nature. 

1.  For  there  is  no  sickness  so  great  but  children  endure 
it,  and  have  natural  strengths  to  bear  them  out  quite 
through  the  calamity,  what  period  soever  nature  hath  al- 
lotted it.  Indeed  they  make  no  reflections  upon  their  suf- 
ferings, and  complain  of  sickness  with  an  uneasy  sigh  or 
a  natural  groan,  but  consider  not,  what  the  sorrows  of  sick- 
ness mean ;  and  so  b^^ar  it  by  a  direct  sufferance,  and  as  a 
pillar  bears  the  weight  of  a  roof.     But  then  why  cannot 


68  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE. 

we  bear  it  so  too  ?  For  this  which  we  call  a  reflection  upon, 
or  a  considering  of  our  sickness,  is  nothing  but  a  perfect 
instrument  of  trouble,  and  consequently  a  temptation  to 
impatience.  It  serves  no  end  of  nature ;  it  may  be  avoided, 
and  we  may  consider  it  only  as  an  expression  of  God's 
anger,  and  an  emissary  or  procurator  of  repentance.  But 
all  other  considering  it,  except  where  it  serves  the  pur- 
poses of  medicine  and  art,  is  nothing  but,  under  the  colour 
of  reason,  an  unreasonable  device  to  heighten  the  sickness 
and  increase  the  torment.  But  then,  as  children  want  this 
act  of  reflex  perception  or  reasonable  sense,  whereby  their 
sickness  becomes  less  pungent  and  dolorous ;  so  also  do 
they  want  the  helps  of  reason,  whereby  they  should  be  able 
to  support  it.  For  certain  it  is,  reason  was  as  well  given 
us  to  harden  our  spirits,  and  stiffen  them  in  passions  and 
sad  accidents,  as  to  make  us  bending  and  apt  for  action : 
and  if  in  men  God  hath  heightened  the  faculties  of  appre- 
hension, he  hath  increased  the  auxiliaries  of  reasonable 
strengths;  that  God's  rod  and  God's  staff*  might  go  to- 
gether, and  the  beam  of  God's  countenance  may  as  well  re- 
fresh us  with  its  light,  as  scorch  us  with  its  heat.  But  poor 
children  that  endure  so  much,  have  not  inward  supports 
and  refreshments  to  bear  them  through  it :  they  never 
heard  the  sayings  of  old  men,  nor  have  been  taught  the 
principles  of  severe  j)hilosophy,  nor  are  assisted  with  the 
results  of  a  long  experience,  nor  know  they  how  to  turn 
a  sickness  into  virtue,  and  a  fever  into  a  reward ;  nor  have 
they  any  sense  of  favours,  the  remembrance  of  which  may 
alleviate  their  burden  ;  and  yet  nature  hath  in  them  teeth 
and  nails  enough  to  scratch,  and  fight  against  the  sickness ; 
and  by  such  aids,  as  God  is  pleased  to  give  them,  they 
wade  through  the  storm,  and  murmur  not.  And  besides 
this,  yet,  although  infants  have  not  such  brisk  perceptions 
upon  the  stock  of  reason,  they  have  a  more  tender  feeling 
upon  the  accounts  of  sense,  and  their  flesh  is  as  uneasy  by 
their  natural  softness  and  weak  shoulders,  as  ours  by  our 
too  forward  apprehensions.  Therefore  bear  up  :  either  you 
or  1,  or  some  man  wiser,  and  many  a  woman  weaker  than 
us  both,  or  the  very  children,  have  endured  worse  evil  than 
this,  that  is  upon  thee  now. 

That  sorrow  is  hugely  tolerable,  which  gives  its  smart 
but  by  instants  and  smallest  proportions  of  time.  No  man 
at  once  feels  the  sickness  of  a  week,  or  of  a  whole  day  ; 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE.  69 

but  the  smart  of  an  instant ;  and  still  every  portion  of  a 
minute  feels  but  its  proper  sliarc  ;  and  the  last  groan  ended 
all  the  sorrow  of  its  peculiar  burden.  And  what  minute 
can  that  be,  which  can  pretend  to  be  intolerable  ?  and  the 
next  minute  is  but  the  same  as  the  last,  and  the  pain  flows 
like  the  drops  of  a  river,  or  the  little  shreds  of  time;  and 
if  we  do  but  take  care  of  the  present  minute,  it  cannot  seem 
a  great  charge  or  a  great  burden ;  but  that  care  will  secure 
our  duty,  if  we  still  but  secure  the  present  minute. 

3.  If  we  consider,  how  much  men  can  suffer,  if  they  list, 
and  how  much  they  do  suffer  for  great  and  little  causes, 
and  that  no  causes  are  greater  than  the  proper  causes  of 
patience  in  sickness  (that  is,  necessity  and  religion, )\ve 
cannot,  without  huge  shame  to  our  nature,  to  our  persons, 
and  to  our  manners,  complain  of  this  tax  and  impost  of 
nature.  This  experience  added  something  to  the  old  phi- 
losophy.  When  the  gladiators  were  exposed  naked  to  each 
other's  short  swords,  and  were  to  cut  each  other's  souls 
away  in  portions  of  flesh,  as  if  their  forms  had  been  as  di- 
visible as  the  life  of  worms,  they  did  not  sigh  or  groan,  it 
was  a  shame  to  decline  the  blow,  but  according  to  the  just 
measures  of  art.  The  women  that  saw  the  wound,  shriek 
out ;  and  he  that  receives  it,  holds  his  peace.  He  did  not 
only  stand  bravely,  but  would  also  fall  so ;  and  when  he 
was  down,  scorned  to  shrink  his  head,  when  the  insolent 
conqueror  came  to  lift  it  from  his  shoulders :  and  yet  this 
man,  in  his  first  design,  only  aimed  at  liberty,  and  the  re- 
putation of  a  good  fencer;  and  when  he  sunk  down,  he 
saw  he  could  only  receive  the  honour  of  a  bold  man,  the 
noise  of  which  he  shall  never  hear,  when  his  ashes  are 
crammed  in  his  narrow  urn.  And  what  can  we  complain  of 
the  weakness  of  our  strength,  or  the  pressures  of  diseases, 
when  we  see  a  poor  soldier  stand  in  a  breach  almost  starved 
with  cold  and  hunger,  and  his  cold  apt  to  be  relieved  only 
by  the  heats  of  anger,  a  fever,  or  a  fired  musket,  and  his 
hunger  slackened  by  a  greater  pain  and  a  huge  fear  ?  this 
man  shall  stand  in  his  arms  and  wounds,  patiens  li/minis 
atque  solis,  pale  and  faint,  weary  and  watchful :  and  at 
night  shall  have  a  bullet  pulled  out  of  his  flesh,  and  shivers 
from  his  bones,  and  endure  his  mouth  to  be  sewed  up  from 
a  violent  rent  to  its  own  dimension;  and  all  this  for  a  man 
whom  he  never  saw,  or  if  he  did,  was  not  noted  by  him ; 
but  one  that  shall  condemn  Jiim  to  the  gallows,  if  he  rung 


70  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE 

from  all  this  misery.  It  is  seldom  that  God  sends  such  ca- 
lamities upon  men,  as  men  bring  upon  themselves,  and  suf- 
fer willingly.  But  that,  which  is  most  considerable  is,  that 
any  passion  and  violence  upon  the  spirit  of  man  makes  him 
able  to  suffer  huge  calamities  with  a  certain  constancy  and 
an  unwearied  patience.  Scipio  Africanus  was  wont  to  com- 
mend that  saying  in  Xenophon,  That  the  same  labours  of 
warfare  were  easier  far  to  a  general  than  to  a  common  sol- 
dier ;  because  he  was  supported  by  the  huge  appetites  of 
honour,  which  made  his  hard  marches  nothing  but  stepping 
forward  and  reaching  at  a  triumph.  Did  not  the  lady  of  Sa- 
binus,  for  others'  interest,  bear  twins  privately  and  without 
groaning  ?  Are  not  the  labours  and  cares,  the  spare  diet  and 
the  waking  nights  of  covetous  and  adulterous,  of  ambitious 
and  revengeful  persons,  greater  sorrows  and  of  more  smart 
than  a  fever,  or  the  short  pains  of  child-birth?  What  will 
not  tender  women  suffer  to  hide  their  shame?  And  if  vice 
and  passion,  lust  and  inferior  appetites,  can  supply  to  the 
tenderest  persons  strengths  more  than  enough  for  the  suf- 
ferance of  the  greatest  natural  violences,  can  we  suppose 
that  honesty  and  religion  and  the  grace  of  God  are  more 
nice,  tender,  and  effeminate? 

4.  Sickness  is  the  more  tolerable,  because  it  cures  very 
many  evils,  and  takes  away  the  sense  of  all  the  cross  for- 
tunes, which  amaze  the  spirits  of  some  men,  and  transport 
them  certainly  beyond  all  the  limits  of  patience.  Here  all 
losses  and  disgraces,  domestic  cares  and  public  evils,  the 
apprehensions  of  pity  and  a  sociable  calamity,  the  fears  of 
want  and  the  troubles  of  ambition,  lie  down  and  rest  upon 
the  sick  man's  pillow.  One  fit  of  the  stone  takes  away 
from  the  fancies  of  men  all  relations  to  the  world  and  secu- 
lar interests ;  at  least  they  are  made  dull  and  flat,  without 
sharpness  and  an  edge. 

And  he,  that  shall  observe  the  infinite  variety  of  troubles, 
which  afflict  some  busy  persons,  and  almost  all  men  in 
very  busy  times,  will  think  it  not  much  amiss,  that  those 
huge  numbers  were  reduced  to  certainty,  to  method,  and 
an  order :  and  there  is  no  better  compendium  for  this,  than 
that  they  be  reduced  to  one.  And  a  sick  man  seems  so 
unconcerned  in  the  things  of  the  world,  that,  although  this 
separation  be  done  with  violence,  yet  it  is  no  otherwise 
than  all  noble  contentions  are,  and  all  honours  are  pur- 
chased, and  all  virtues  are  acquired,  and  all  vices  mortified, 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IJVIPATIEJNCE.  71 

anc]  all  appetites  chastised,  and  all  rewards  obtained :  there 
is  infallibly  to  all  these  a  difficulty  and  a  sharpness  an- 
nexed, without  which  there  could  be  no  pro])ortion  between 
a  work  and  a  reward.  To  this  add,  that  sickness  does  not 
take  oil  the  sense  of  secular  troubles  and  worldly  cares 
from  us,  by  employing  all  the  perceptions  and  apprehen- 
sions of  men  ;  by  filling  all  faculties  with  sorrow,  and 
leaving  no  room  for  the  lesser  instances  of  troubles,  as  lit- 
tle rivers  are  swallowed  up  in  the  sea ;  but  sickness  is  a 
messenger  of  God,  sent  with  purposes  of  abstraction  and 
separation,  with  a  secret  power  and  a  proper  efficacy  to 
draw  us  ofi'from  unprofitable  and  useless  sorrows  :  and  this 
is  effected  partly,  by  reason  that  it  represents  the  useless- 
ness  of  the  things  of  this  world,  and  that  there  is  a  portion 
of  this  life,  in  which  honours  and  things  of  the  world  can- 
not serve  us  to  many  purposes ;  partly,  by  preparing  us  to 
death,  and  telling  us,  that  a  man  shall  descend  thither, 
whence  this  world  cannot  redeem  us,  and  where  the  goods 
of  this  world  cannot  serve  us. 

5.  And  yet,  after  all  this,  sickness  leaves  in  us  appetites 
so  strong,  and  apprehensions  so  sensible,  and  delights  so 
many,  and  good  things  in  so  great  a  degree,  that  a  health- 
less body  and  a  sad  disease  do  seldom  make  men  weary 
of  this  world,  but  still  they  would  fain  find  an  excuse  to 
live.  The  gout,  the  stone,  and  the  tooth-ache,  the  sciatica, 
sore  eyes,  and  an  aching  head,  are  evils  indeed  ;  but  such, 
which,  rather  than  die,  most  men  are  willing  to  suffer ;  and 
Mecaenas  added  also  a  wish,  rather  to  l;e  crucified  than  to 
die  :  and  though  his  wish  was  low,  timorous,  and  base,  yet 
we  find  the  same  desires  in  most  iwcn,  dressed  up  with 
better  circumstances.  It  was  a  cruel  morcy  in  Tamerlane, 
who  commanded  all  the  leprous  persons  to  be  put  to  death, 
as  we  knock  some  beasts  quickly  on  their  head,  to  put 
them  out  of  pain,  and  lest  they  should  live  miserably  :  the 
poor  men  would  rather  have  endured  another  leprosy,  and 
have  more  willingly  taken  two  diseases  than  one  death. 
Therefore  Csesar  wondered,  that  the  old  crazed  soldier 
begged  leave  he  might  kill  himself,  and  asked  him,  "  Dost 
thou  think  then  to  be  more  alive,  than  now  thou  art?"  We 
do  not  die  suddenly,  but  we  descend  to  death  by  steps  and 
slow  passages :  and  therefore  men  (so  long  as  they  are 
sick)  are  unwilling  to  proceed  and  go  forward  in  the  finish- 
ing that  sad  employment.     Between  a  disease  and  death 


72  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE. 

there  are  many  degrees,  and  all  those  are  like  the  reserves 
of  evil  things,  the  declining  of  every  one  of  vt^hich  is  justly 
reckoned  amongst  those  good  things,  which  alleviate  the 
sickness  and  make  it  tolerable.  Never  account  that  sick- 
ness intolerable,  in  which  thou  hadst  rather  remain  than 
die  :  and  yet  if  thou  hadst  rather  die  than  suffer  it,  the 
worst  of  it  that  can  be  said  is  this,  that  the  sickness  is 
worse  than  death ;  that  is,  it  is  worse  than  that,  which  is 
the  best  of  all  evils,  and  the  end  of  all  troubles ;  and  then 
you  have  said  no  great  harm  against  it. 

6.  Remember,  that  thou  art  under  a  supervening  neces- 
sity. Nothing  is  intolerable,  that  is  necessary  :  and  there- 
fore when  men  are  to  suffer  a  sharp  incision,  or  what  they 
are  pleased  to  call  intolerable,  tie  the  man  down  to  it,  and 
he  endures  it.  Noav  God  hath  bound  this  sickness  upon 
thee  by  the  condition  of  nature ;  for  every  flower  must  wi- 
ther and  drop  ;  it  is  also  bound  upon  thee  by  special  provi- 
dence, and  with  a  design  to  try  thee,  and  with  purposes 
to  reward  and  to  crown  thee.  These  cords  thou  canst  not 
break ;  and  therefore  lie  thou  down  gently,  and  suffer  the 
hand  of  God  to  do  what  he  please,  that  at  least  thou  may- 
est  swallow  an  advantage,  which  the  care  and  severe  mer- 
cies of  God  force  down  thy  throat. 

7.  Remember,  that  all  men  have  passed  this  way ;  the 
bravest  the  wisest,  and  the  best  men  have  been  subject  to 
sickness  and  sad  diseases ;  and  it  is  esteemed  a  prodigy, 
that  a  man  should  live  to  a  long  age,  and  not  be  sick  :  and 
it  is  recorded  for  a  wonder  concerning  Xenophilus  the  mu- 
sician, that  he  lived  to  one  hundred  and  six  years  of  age, 
in  a  perfect  and  continual  health.  No  story  tells  the  like 
of  a  prince,  or  a  great  or  a  wise  person ;  unless  we  have 
a  mind  to  believe  the  tales  concerning  Nestor  and  the 
Euboean  Sybil,  or  reckon  Cyrus  of  Persia,  or  Masinissa 
the  Mauritanian  to  be  rivals  of  old  age,  or  that  Argento- 
nius  the  Tartesian  king  did  really  outstrip  that  age,  ac- 
cording as  his  story  tells,  reporting  him  to  have  reigned 
eighty  years,  and  to  have  lived  one  hundred  and  twenty. 
Old  age  and  healthful  bodies  are  seldom  made  the  appen- 
dages to  great  fortunes :  and  under  so  great  and  so  univer- 
sal precedents,  so  common  fate  of  men,  he  that  will  not 
suffer  his  portion,  deserves  to  be  something  else  than  a  man, 
but  nothing  that  is  better. 

8.  We  find  in  story,  that  many  Gentiles,  who  walked  by 


REMEDIES  AGALNST  IMPATIENCE.  7;^ 

no  light  but  that  of  reason,  opinion,  and  human  examples, 
(lid  bear  their  sickness  nobly,  and  with  great  contempt  of 
j)ain,  and  with  huge  interests  of  virtue.  When  Pompey  came 
from  Syria,  and  called  at  Rliodes,  to  see  Posidonius  the  phi- 
losoplier,  he  found  him  hugely  afflicted  with  the  gout,  and 
expressed  his  sorrow  that  he  could  not  hear  his  lecture?^, 
from  which  by  this  pain  he  must  needs  be  hindered.  Posido- 
nius iold  him,  "  But  you  may  hear  me  for  all  this :"  and  he 
discoursed  excellently  in  the  midst  of  his  tortures,  even  then, 
when  the  torches  were  put  to  his  feet,  "  That  nothing  was 
good  but  what  was  honest;"  and  therefore  "  nothing  could 
be  an  evil,  if  it  were  not  criminal  :"  and  summed  up  his 
lectures  with  tJiis  saying,  "  O  pain,  in  vain  dost  thou  at- 
tempt me ;  for  I  will  never  confess  thee  to  be  an  evil,  as 
long  as  I  can  honestly  bear  thee."  And  when  Pompey 
himself  was  desperately  sick  at  Naples,  the  Neapolitans 
wore  crowns  and  triumphed,  and  the  men  of  Puteoli  came 
to  congratulate  his  sickness,  not  because  they  loved  him 
not,  but  because  it  was  the  custom  of  their  country  to  have 
better  opinions  of  sickness  than  we  have.  The  boys  of  Sparta 
uoLild,  at  their  altars,  endure  Avhipping,  till  their  very  en- 
trails saw  the  light  through  their  torn  flesh  ;  and  some  of 
them  to  death,  w^ithout  crying  or  complaint.  Csesar  would 
drink  his  portions  of  rhubarb  rudely  mixed,  and  unfitly  al- 
layed, with  little  sippings,  and  tasted  the  horror  of  the  medi- 
cine, spreading  the  loathsomeness  of  his  physic  so,  that  all 
the  parts  of  his  tongue  and  palate  might  have  an  entire  share  ; 
and  when  C.  Marius  suffered  the  veins  of  his  leg  to  be  cut 
out  for  the  curing  his  gout,  and  yet  shrunk  not,  he  declared 
not  only  the  rudeness  of  their  physic,  but  the  strength  of  a 
man's  spirit,  if  it  be  contracted  and  united  by  the  aids  of  ?. 
reason  or  religion,  by  resolution  or  any  accidental  harsh- 
ness, against  a  violent  disease. 

9.  All  impatience,  howsoever  expressed,  is  perfectly 
useless  to  all  purposes  of  ease,  but  hugely  effective  to  the 
multiplying  the  trouble ;  and  the  impatience  and  vexation 
is  another,  but  the  sharper  disease  of  the  two :  it  does  mis- 
chief by  itself,  and  mischief  by  the  disease.  For  men 
grieve  themselves,  as  much  as  they  please  ;  and  when,  by 
impatience,  they  put  themselves  into  the  retinue  of  sorrows, 
they  become  solemn  mourners.  For  so  have  I  seen  the 
rays  of  the  sun  or  moon  dash  upon  a  brasen  vessel,  whose 
lips  kissed  the  face  of  those  wnters  that  lodged  within  its 
g  2K 


74  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE. 

bosom;  but  being  turned  back,  and  sent  off  with  its  smooth 
pretences  or  rougher  waftings,  it  wandered  about  the  room, 
and  beat  upon  the  roof,  and  still  doubled  its  heat  and 
motion.  So  is  a  sickness  and  a  sorrow,  entertained  by  an 
unquiet  and  a  discontented  man,  turned  back  either  with 
anger  or  with  excuses ;  but  then  the  pain  passes  from  the 
stomach  to  the  liver,  and  from  the  liver  to  the  heart,  and 
from  the  heart  to  the  head,  and  from  feeling  to  consider- 
ation, from  thence  to  sorrow,  and  at  last  ends  in  impa- 
tience and  useless  murmur  ;  and  all  the  way  the  man  was 
impotent  and  weak,  but  the  sickness  was  doubled,  and 
grew  imperious  and  tyrannical  over  the  soul  and  body. 
Masurius  Sabinus  tells,  that  the  image  of  the  goddess  An- 
gerona  was,  with  a  muffler  upon  her  mouth,  placed  upon 
the  altar  of  Volupia,  to  represent,  that  those  persons,  who 
bear  their  sicknesses  and  sorrows  without  murmurs,  shall 
certainly  pass  from  sorrow  to  pleasure,  and  the  ease  and 
Jionours  of  felicity  ;  but  they,  that  with  spite  and  indigna- 
tion, bite  the  burning  coal,  or  shake  the  yoke  upon  their 
necks,  gall  their  spirits,  and  fret  the  skin,  and  hurt  nothing 
but  themselves. 

10.  Remember,  that  this  sickness  is  but  for  a  short  time : 
if  it  be  sharp,  it  will  not  last  long ;  if  it  be  long,  it  will 
be  easy  and  very  tolerable.  And  although  St.  Eadsine, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  had  twelve  years  of  sickness, 
yet,  all  that  while,  he  ruled  his  church  prudently,  gave  ex- 
ample of  many  virtues,  and,  after  his  death,  was  enrolled 
in  the  calendar  of  saints,  who  had  finished  their  course  pros- 
perously. Nothing  is  more  unreasonable  than  to  entangle 
our  spirits  in  wildness  and  amazement,  lil*e  a  partridge 
fluttering  in  a  net,  which  she  breaks  not,  though  she  breaks 
her  wings. 

SECTION  V. 
Remedies  against  Impatience,  by  way  of  Exercise. 

1.  The  fittest  instrument  of  esteeming  sickness  easily 
tolerable  is,  to  remember  that  which  indeed  makes  it  so  ; 
and  that  is,  that  God  doth  minister  proper  aids  and  sup- 
ports to  every  of  his  servants,  whom  he  visits  with  his  rod. 
He  knows  our  needs,  he  pities  our  sorrows,  he  relieves 
our  miseries,  he  supports  our  weakness,  he  bids  us  ask  for 
help,  and  he  promises  to  give  us  all  that,  and  he  usually 
sives  us  more  :  and  indeed  it  is  observable,  that  no  story 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE.  75 

tells  of  any  godly  man,  who,  living  in  the  fear  of  (Jod,  fell 
into  a  violent  and  unpardoned  impatience  in  his  natural 
sickness,  if  he  used  those  means  which  God  and  his  holy 
church  have  appointed.  We  see  almost  all  men  bear  their 
last  sickness  with  sorrows  indeed,  but  without  violent  pas- 
sions ;  and  unless  they  fear  death  violently,  they  sufler  the 
sickness  with  some  indilFerency  :  and  it  is  a  rare  thing  to 
see  a  man,  who  enjoys  his  reason  in  his  sickness,  to  express 
the  proper  signs  of  a  direct  and  solemn  impatience.  For 
when  God  lays  a  sickness  upon  us,  he  seizes  commonly  on 
a  man's  spirits,  which  are  the  instruments  of  action  and 
business  ,•  and  when  they  are  secured  from  being  tumul- 
tuous,  the  sufferance  is  much  the  easier :  and  therefore  sick- 
ness secures  all  that,  which  can  do  the  man  mischief;  it 
makes  him  tame  and  passive,  apt  for  suffering,  and  con- 
fines him  to  an  unactive  condition.  To  which  if  we  add, 
that  God  then  commonly  produces  fear,  and  all  those  pas- 
sions, which  naturally  tend  to  humility  and  poverty  of 
spirit,  we  shall  soon  perceive  by  what  instruments  God 
verifies  his  promise  to  us  (which  is  the  great  security  for 
our  patience,  and  the  easiness  of  our  condition,)  that  God 
vv^ill  lay  no  more  upon  us  than  he  will  make  us  able  to  bear, 
but,  together  with  the  affliction,  he  will  find  a  way  to  es- 
cape.* Nay,  if  any  thing  can  be  more  than  this,  we  have 
two  or  three  promises,  in  which  we  may  safely  lodge  our- 
selves, and  roll  from  off  our  thorns,  and  find  ease  and  rest : 
God  hath  promised  to  be  with  us  in  our  trouble,  and  to  be 
with  us  in  our  prayers,  and  to  be  with  us  in  our  hope  and 
confidence."!" 

2.  Prevent  the  violence  and  trouble  of  thy  spirit  by  an 
act  of  thanksgiving;  for  which  in  the  worst  of  sicknesses 
thou  canst  not  want  cause,  especially  if  thou  rememberest, 
that  this  pain  is  not  an  eternal  pain.  Bless  God  for  that : 
but  take  heed  also,  lest  you  so  order  your  afiairs,  that  you 
pass  from  hence  to  an  eternal  sorrow.  If  that  be  hflrd,  this 
will  be  intolerable :  but  as  for  the  present  evil,  a  few  days 
will  end  it. 

3.  Remember,  that  thou  art  a  man,  and  a  Christian  ;  as 
the  covenant  of  nature  hath  made  it  necessary,  so  the  cove- 
nant of  grace  hath  made  it  to  be  chosen  by  thee,  to  be  a 
suffering  person ;  either  you  must  renounce  your  religion, 

*  1  Cor.  X.  13. 

tPsal.  ix.  9.    Matt.  vii.  7.    Jam.  v.  13.     Psal.  xxxi.  19.  2t.  \xxiv.  2'2. 


76  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE. 

or  submit  to  the  impositions  of  God,  and  thy  portion  of  suf- 
ferings. So  that  here  we  see  our  advantages,  and  let  us 
use  them  accordingly.  The  barbarous  and  warlike  nation;; 
of  old  could  fight  well  and  willingly,  but  could  not  bear 
sickness  manfully.  The  Greeks  were  cowardly  in  their 
lights,  as  most  wise  men  are;  but  because  they  were  learn- 
ed and  well  taught,  they  bore  their  sickness  with  patience 
and  severity.  The  Cimbrians  and  Celtiberians  rejoice  in 
battle  like  giants;  but,  in  their  diseases,  they  weep  like 
women.  These,  according  to  their  institutions  and  designs, 
had  unequal  courages  and  accidental  fortitude.  But  since 
our  religion  hath  made  a  covenant  of  sufferings,  and  the 
great  business  of  our  lives  is  suffering,  and  most  of  the 
virtues  of  a  Christian  are  passive  graces,  and  all  the  promi- 
ses of  the  gospel  are  passed  upon  us  through  Christ's  cross, 
we  have  a  necessity  upon  us  to  have  an  equal  courage  in 
ail  the  variety  of  our  sufferings ;  for,  without  a  universal 
fortitude,  we  can  do  nothing  of  our  duty. 

4.  Resolve  to  do  as  much  as  you  can;  for  certain  it  is, 
we  can  sutler  very  much,  if  we  list;  arrd  many  men  have 
afflicted  themselves  unreasonably,  by  not  being  skilful  to 
consider  how  much  their  strength  and  state  could  permit ; 
and  our  flesh  is  nice  and  imperious,  crafty  to  persuade  rea- 
son, that  she  hath  more  necessities  than  indeed  belong  to 
her,  and  that  she  demands  nothing  superfluous.  Suffer  as 
much  in  obedience  to  God,  as  you  can  suffer  for  necessity 
or  passion,  fear  or  desire.  And  if  you  can  for  one  thing, 
you  can  for  another,  and  there  is  nothing  wanting  but  the 
mind.  Never  say,  I  can  do  no  more,  I  cannot  endure  this ; 
for  God  would  not  have  sent  it,  if  he  had  not  known  thee 
strong  enough  to  abide  it ;  only  he,  that  knows  thee  well 
already,  would  also  take  this  occasion  to  make  thee  know 
thyself,  but  it  will  be  fit,  that  you  pray  to  God  to  give  you  a 
discerning  spirit,  that  you  may  rightly  distinguish  just  ne- 
cessity from  the  flattery  and  fondness  of  flesh  and  blood. 

5.  Propound  to  your  eyes  and  heart  the  example  of  the 
holy  Jesus  upon  the  cross ;  he  endured  more  for  thee,  than 
thou  canst  either  for  thyself  or  him :  and  remember,  that 
if  we  put  to  suffer,  and  do  sufTer  in  a  good  cause,  or  in  a 
good  manner,  so  that  in  any  sense  your  sufferings  be  con- 
formable to  his  sufferings,  or  can  be  capable  of  being 
united  to  his,  we  shall  reign  together  with  him.  The 
high  way  of  the  cross,  which  the  King  of  su.fin3rino-s  hath 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE.  77 

trodden  before  us,  is  the  way  to  case,  to  a  kingdom,  and  to 
felicity. 

6.  The  very  suftering  is  a  title  to  an  excellent  inherit- 
ance :  for  God  chastens  every  son  whom  he  receives ;  and 
if  we  be  not  chastised,  we  are  bastards,  and  not  sons.  And 
be  confident,  that  although  God  often  sends  pardon  with- 
out correction,  yet  he  never  sends  correction  without  par- 
don, unless  it  be  thy  fault :  and  therefore  take  every  or  any 
affliction  as  an  earnest-penny  of  thy  pardon ;  and,  upon 
condition  there  may  be  peace  with  God,  let  any  thing  be 
welcome,  that  he  can  send  as  its  instrument  or  condition. 
Suffer,  therefore,  God  to  choose  his  own  circumstances  of 
adopting  thee,  and  be  content  to  be  under  discipline,  when 
the  reward  of  that  is  to  become  the  son  of  God :  and  by 
such  inflictions  he  hews  and  breaks  thy  body,  first  dressing 
it  to  funeral,  and  then  preparing  it  for  immortality.  And, 
if  this  be  the  effect  or  the  design  of  God's  love  to  thee,  let 
it  be  occasion  of  thy  love  to  him :  and  remember,  that  the 
truth  of  love  is  hardly  known,  but  by  somewhat  that  puts 
us  to  pain. 

7.  Use  this  as  a  punishment  for  thy  sins ;  and  so  God 
intends  it  most  commonly  ;  that  is  certain :  if,  therefore, 
thou  submittest  to  it,  thou  approvest  of  the  Divine  judg- 
ment :  and  no  man  can  have  cause  to  complain  of  any  thing 
but  himself,  if  either  he  believes  God  to  be  just,  or  himself 
to  be  a  sinner ;  if  he  either  thinks  he  has  deserved  hell,  or 
that  this  little  may  be  a  means  toprevent  the  greater,  and 
bring  him  to  heaven.  :  .;. ., 

8.  It  may  be,  that  this  may  be  tKe-  last  instance  and  the 
last  opportunity  that  ever  God  will  give  thee  to  exercise 
any  virtue,  to  do  him  any  service,  or  thyself  any  advantage  : 
be  careful  that  thou  losest  not  this;  for  to  eternal  ages  this 
never  shall  return  again. 

9.  Or  if  thou,  peradventure,  shalt  be  restored  to  health, 
be  careful,  that,  in  the  day  of  thy  thanksgiving,  thou  mayest 
not  be  ashamed  of  thyself,  for  having  behaved  thyself  poor- 
ly and  weakly  upon  thy  bed.  It  will  be  a  sensible  and  ex- 
cellent comfort  to  thee,  and  double  upon  thy  spirit,  if,  when 
thou  shalt  worship  God  for  restoring  thee,  thou  shalt  also 
remember,  that  thou  didst  do  him  service  in  thy  suffering, 
and  tell  that  God  was  hugely  gracious  to  thee  in  giving  thee 
the  opportunity  of  a  virtue  at  so  easy  a  rate  as  a  sickness, 
from  which  thou  didst  recover. 

ff2  2  K  2 


78  REMEDIES  AGAINST  LArPAllENCE. 

10.  Few  men  arc  so  sick,  but  they  believe  that  they 
may  recover ;  and  we  shall  seldom  see  a  man  lie  down  with 
a  perfect  persuasion,  that  it  is  his  last  hour :  for  many  men 
have  been  sicker,  and  yet  have  recovered;  but  whether 
thou  dost  or  no,  thou  hast  a  virtue  to  exercise,  which  may 
be  a  handmaid  to  thy  patience.  Epaphroditas  was  sick, 
sick  unto  death ;  and  yet  God  had  mercy  upon  him :  and 
lie  hath  done  so  to  thousands,  to  whom  he  found  it  useful 
in  the  great  order  of  things,  and  the  events  of  universal 
providence.  If,  therefore,  thou  desirest  to  recover,  here 
is  cause  enough  of  hope,  and  hope  is  designed  in  the  arts 
of  God  and  of  the  Spirit  to  support  patience.  But  if  thou 
recoverest  not,  yet  there  is  something  that  is  matter  of  jcy 
naturally,  and  very  much  spintually,  if  thou  belongest  to 
God  ;  and  joy  is  as  certain  a  support  to  patience  as  hope  : 
and  it  is  no  small  cause  of  being  pleased,  when  we  remem- 
ber, that  if  we  recover  not,  our  sickness  shall  the  sooner 
sit  down  in  rest  and  joy.  For  recovery  by  death,  as  it  is 
easier  and  better  than  the  recovery  by  a  sickly  health,  so 
it  is  not  so  long  in  doing :  it  suflers  not  the  tediousness  of 
a  creeping  restitution,  nor  the  inconvenience  of  surgeons 
and  physicians,  watchfulness  and  care,  keepings  in  and 
suffering  trouble,  fears  of  relapse,  and  the  little  relics  of  a 
storm. 

11.  While  we  hear,  or  use,  or  think  of  these  remedies, 
part  of  the  sickness  is  gone  away,  and  all  of  it  is  passiiii^;. 
And  if,  by  such  instruments  we  stand  armed  and  ready 
drcssajd'>beforehand,  we  shall  avoid  the  mischiefs  of  amaze- 
inent4''''^aftd-  surprls^;,  while  the  accidents  of  sickness  arc 
such 'as -were '^^^ected,  and  against  which  we  stood  in 
readiness,  with  our  spirits  contracted,  instructed,  and  put 
upon  the  defensive. 

12.  But  our  patience  will  be  the  better  secured,  if  we 
consider,  that  it  is  not  violently  tempted  by  the  usual  ar- 
rests of  sickness  ,*  for  patience  is,  with  reason,  demanded 
while  the  sickness  is  tolerable,  that  is,  so  long  as  the  evil 
is  riot  too  great;  but  if  it  be  also  eligible,  and  have  in  it 
some  degrees  of  good,  our  patience  will  have  in  it  the  less 
difficulty  and  the  greater  necessity.  This,  therefore,  will 
be  a  new  stock  of  consideration :  sickness  is,  in  many  de- 
grees, eligible  to  many  men,  and  to  many  purposes. 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE.  79 

SECTION  VI. 

Advantages  of  SicJaiess. 

1.  I  CONSIDER  one  of  the  great  felicities  of  heaven  con* 
sists  in  an  immunity  from  sin  :  then  we  shall  love  God  with- 
out mixtures  of  malice :  then  we  shall  enjoy  without  envy; 
then  we  shall  see  fuller  vessels  running  over  with  glory, 
and  crowned  with  bigger  circles :  and  this  we  shall  behold 
without  spilling  from  our  eyes  (those  vessels  of  joy  and 
grief)  any  sign  of  anger,  trouble,  or  a  repining  s})irit:  our 
passions  shall  be  pure,  our  charity  without  fear,  our  desire 
without  lust,  our  possessions  all  our  own;  and  all  in  the 
inheritance  of  Jesus,  in  the  richest  soil  of  God's  eternal 
kingdom.  Now  half  of  this  reason,  which  makes  heaven 
so  happy  by  being  innocent,  is  also  in  the  state  of  sickness, 
making  the  sorrows  of  old  age  smooth,  and  the  groans  of  a 
sick  heart  apt  to  be  joined  to  the  music  of  angels ;  and, 
though  they  sound  harsh  to  our  untuned  ears  and  discom- 
])osed  organs,  yet  those  accents  must  needs  be  in  them- 
selves excellent,  which  God  loves  to  hear,  and  esteems 
them  as  prayers,  and  arguments  of  pity,  instruments  of 
mercy  and  grace,  and  preparatives  to  glory. 

In  sickness  the  soul  begins  to  dress  herself  for  immor- 
tality. And  first,  she  unties  the  strings  of  vanity,  that  made 
her  upper  garment  cleave  to  the  world  and  sit  uneasy  : 
first,  she  puts  oft'  the  light  and  fantastic  summer  robe  of 
lust  and  wanton  appetite  :  and  as  soon  as  that  cestus,  that 
lascivious  girdle,  is  thrown  away,  then  the  reins  chasten 
us,  and  give  us  warning  in  the  night;  then  that,  which 
called  us  formerly  to  serve  the  manliness  of  the  body  and 
the  childishness  of  the  soul,  keeps  us  waking,  to  divide  the 
hours  with  the  intervals  of  prayer,  and  to  number  the  mi- 
nutes with  their  penitential  groans ;  then  the  flesh  sits  un- 
easily and  dwells  in  sorrow  ;  and  then  the  spirit  feels  itself 
at  ease,  freed  from  the  petulant  solicitations  of  those  pas- 
sions, which  in  health  were  as  busy  and  as  restless  as  atoms 
in  the  sun,  always  dancing,  and  always  busy,  and  never  sit- 
ting down,  till  a  sad  night  of  grief  and  uneasiness  draws 
the  veil,  and  lets  them  die  alone  in  secret  dishonour. 

2.  Next  to  this  ;  the  soul,  by  the  help  of  sickness,  knocks 
oflf  the  fetters  of  pride  and  vainer  complacencies.  Then 
she  draws  the  curtains,  and  stops  the  light  from  coming  in, 
and  takes  the  pictures  down,  those  fantastic  images  of  self- 


80  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE. 

love  and  gay  remembrances  of  vain  opinion,  and  popular 
noises.  Then  the  spirit  stoops  into  the  sobrieties  of  humble 
thoughts,  and  feels  corruption  chiding  the  forwardness  of 
fancy,  and  allaying  the   vapours  of  conceit  and  factious 
opinions.     For  humility  is  the  soul's  grave,  into  which  she 
enters,  not  to  die,  but  to  meditate  and  inter  some  of  its 
troublesome  appendages.  There  she  sees  the  dust,  and  feels 
the  dishonours  of  the  body,  and  reads  the  register  of  all  its 
sad  adherences;  and  then  she  lays  by  all  her  vain  reflections, 
beating  upon  her  crystal  and  pure  mirror  from  the  fancies 
of  strength  and  beauty,  and  little  decayed  prettinesses  of 
the  body.    And  when,  in  sickness,  we  forget  all  our  knotty 
discourses  of  philosophy,  and  a  syllogism  makes  our  head 
ache,  and  we  feel  our  many  and  loud   talkings  served  no 
lasting  end  of  the  soul,  no  purpose  that  now  we  must  abide 
by,  and  that  the  body  is  like  to  descend  to  the  land,  where 
all  things  are  forgotten  ;  then  she  lays  aside  all  her  remem- 
brances  of  applauses,  all   her  ignorant   confidences,  and 
cares  only  to  know  "  Christ  Jesus  and  him  crucified,"  to 
know  him  plainly,  and  with  much  heartiness  and  simplicity. 
And  I  cannot  think  this  to  be  a  contemptible  advantage. 
For  ever  since  man  tempted  himself  by  his  impatient  de- 
sires of  knowing,  and  being  as  God,  man  thinks  it  the  finest 
thing  in  the  world  to  know  much,  and  therefore  is  hugely 
apt  to  esteem  himself  better  than  his  brethren,  if  he  knows 
some  little  impertinences,  and  them  imperfectly,  and  that 
with  infinite  uncertainty  ;  but  God  hath  been  pleased  with 
a  rare  art,  to  prevent  the  inconveniences  apt  to  arise  by  this 
passionate   longing   after  knowledge ;    even  by  giving  to 
every  man  a  sufficient  opinion  of  his  own  understanding : 
and  who  is  there  in  the  world,  that  thinks  himself  to  be  a 
fool,  or  indeed  not  fit  to  govern  his  brother?  There  are  but 
few  men,  but  they  think  they  are  wise  enough,  and  every 
man  believes  his  own  opinion  the  soundest ;  and,  if  it  were 
otherwise,  men  would  burst  themselves  with  envy,  or  else 
become  irrecoverable  slaves  to  the  talking  and  disputing 
man.     But  when  God  intended  this  permission  to  be  an 
antidote  of  envy,  and  a  satisfaction  and  allay  to  the  trou- 
blesome appetites  of  knowing,  and  made,  that  this  universal 
opinion,  by  making  men  in  some  proportions  equal,  should 
be  a  keeper  out  or  a  great  restraint  to  slavery  and  tyranny 
respectively ;  man  (for  so  he  uses  to  do)  hath  turned  this 
into  bitterness  :  for  when  nature  had  made  so  just  a  distri- 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE.  Qi 

hution  of  understanding,  that  every  man  might  think  he 
had  enough,  he  is  not  content  with  that,  but  will  think  he 
hath  more  than  his  brother ;  and  whereas  it  might  be  well 
employed  in  restraining  slavery,  he  hath  used  it  to  break 
off  the  bands  of  all  obedience,  and  it  ends  in  pride  and 
schisms,  in  heresies  and  tyrannies;  and  it  being  a  spiritual 
evil,  it  grows  upon  the  soul  with  old  age  and  flattery,  with 
health  and  the  supports  of  a  prosperous  fortune.  Now, 
besides  the  direct  operations  of  the  Spirit  and  a  powerful 
grace,  there  is,  in  nature,  left  to  us  no  remedy  for  this  evil 
but  a  sharp  sickness,  or  an  equal  sorrow,  and  allay  of  for- 
tune :  and  then  we  are  humble  enough  to  ask  counsel  of  a 
despised  priest,  and  to  think,  that  even  a  common  sentence, 
from  the  mouth  of  an  appointed  comforter,  streams  forth 
more  refreshment  than  all  our  own  wiser  and  more  reputed 
discourses  :  then  our  understandings  and  our  bodies,  peep- 
ing through  their  own  breaches,  see  their  shame  and  their 
dishonour,  their  dangerous  follies  and  their  huge  deceptions ; 
and  they  go  into  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  and  every  little  hand 
may  cover  them. 

3.  Next  to  these,  as  the  soul  is  still  undressing,  she  takes 
off  the  roughness  of  her  great  and  little'  angers  and  ani- 
mosities, and  receives  the  oil  of  mercies  and  smooth  for- 
giveness, fair  interpretations  and  gentle  answers,  designs 
of  reconcilement  and  Christian  atonement  in  their  places. 
For  so  did  the  wrestlers  in  Olympus;  they  stripped  them- 
selves of  all  their  garments,  and  then  anointed  their  naked 
bodies  with  oil,  smooth  and  vigorous  ;  with  contracted 
nerves  and  enlarged  voice  they  contended  vehemently,  till 
they  obtained  their  victory,  or  their  ease  :  and  a  crown  of 
olive,  or  a  huge  pity,  was  the  reward  of  their  fierce  conten- 
tions. Some  wise  men  have  said,  that  anger  sticks  to  a 
man's  nature  as  inseparably,  as  other  vices  do  to  the 
manners  of  fools,  and  that  anger  is  never  quite  cured :  but 
God  that  hath  found  out  remedies  for  all  diseases,  hath 
so  ordered  the  circumstances  of  man,  that,  in  the  worser 
sort  of  men,  anger  and  great  indignation  consume  and 
shrivel  into  little  peevishnesses  and  uneasy  accents  of  sick- 
ness,  and  spend  themselves  in  trifling  instances ;  and,  in 
the  better  and  more  sanctified,  it  goes  off  in  prayers,  and 
alms,  and  solemn  reconcilement.  And  however  the  temp- 
tations of  this  state,  such  I  mean,  which  arc  proper  to  it, 
arc  little  and  iucoiisidcrable  ;  the  man  is  apt  to  chide  a 


82  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE. 

servant  too  bitterly,  and  to  be  discontented  with  his  nurse, 
or  not  satisfied  with  his  physician  ;  and  he  rests  uneasily, 
and  (poor  man  !)  nothing  can  please  him :  and  indeed  these 
little  indecencies  must  be  cured  and  stopped,  lest  they  run 
into  an  inconvenience.  But  sickness  is,  in  this  particular, 
a  little  image  of  the  state  of  blessed  souls,  or  of  Adam's 
early  morning  in  paradise,  free  from  the  troubles  of  lust,  and 
violences  of  anger,  and  the  intricacies  of  ambition,  or  the 
restlessness  of  covetousness.  For  though  a  man  may  carry 
all  these  along  with  him  into  his  sickness,  yet  there  he  will 
not  find  them  ;  and  in  despite  of  all  his  own  malice,  his 
soul  shall  find  some  rest  from  labouring  in  the  galleys,  and 
baser  captivity  of  sin  ;  and  if  we  value-those  moments  of 
being  in  the  love  of  God  and  in  the  kingdom  of  grace, 
which  certainly  are  the  beginnings  of  felicity,  we  may  also 
remember,  that  the  not  sinning  actually  is  one  step  of  inno- 
cence ;  and  therefore  that  state  is  not  intolerable,  which,  by 
a  sensible  trouble,  makes  it  in  most  instances  impossible  to 
commit  those  great  sins,  which  make  death,  hell,  and  horrid 
damnations.  And  then  let  us  but  add  this  to  it,  that  God 
sends  sicknesses,  but  he  never  causes  sin :  that  God  is 
angry  with  a  sinning  person,  but  never  with  a  man  for  being 
sick ;  that  sin  causes  God  to  hate  us,  and  sickness  causes 
him  to  pity  us ;  that  all  wise  men  in  the  world  choose  trou- 
ble rather  than  dishonour,  affliction  rather  than  baseness ; 
and  that  sickness  stops  the  torrent  of  sin,  and  interrupts  its 
violence,  and  even  to  the  worst  men  makes  it  to  retreat 
many  degrees.  We  may  reckon  sickness  amongst  good 
things,  as  we  reckon  rhubarb,  and  aloes,  and  child-birth, 
and  labour,  and  obedience,  and  discipline  :  these  are  un- 
pleasant, and  yet  safe ;  they  are  troubles  in  order  to  bless- 
ings, or  they  are  securities  from  danger,  or  the  hard 
choices  of  a  less  and  a  more  tolerable  evil. 

4.  Sickness  is,  in  some  sense,  eligible,  because  it  is  the 
opportunity  and  the  proper  scene  of  exercising  some  vir- 
tues. It  is  that  agony  in  which  men  are  tried  for  a  crown. 
And  if  we  remember  what  glorious  things  are  spoken  of 
the  grace  of  faith,  that  it  is  the  life  of  just  men,  the  resti- 
tution of  the  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  the  justification 
of  a  sinner,  the  support  of  the  weak,  the  confidence  of  the 
strong,  the  mngazine  of  promises,  and  the  title  to  very  glo- 
rious rewards  ;  we  may  easily  imagine,  that  it  must  have 
in  it  a  work  and  a  difficulty,  in  some  proportion  answer- 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE.  83 

able  to  so  great  effecfs.  But  when  vve  are  bidden  to  be- 
lieve Rlr!iii;^c  propositions,  we  arc  put  upon  it  when  we 
cannot  judge,  and  those  propositions  have  possessed  our 
discerning  faculties,  and  have  made  a  party  there,  and  are 
become  domestic,  before  they  come  to  be  disputed ;  and 
then  the  articles  of  faith  are  so  few,  and  are  made  so  cre- 
dible, and,  ill  their  event  and  in  their  object,  are  so  useful 
and  gaining  upon  the  aflections,  that  he  were  a  prodigy  of 
man,  and  would  be  so  esteemed,  that  should,  in  all  our 
present  circumstances,  disbelieve  any  point  of  faith  :  and 
all  is  well  as  long  as  the  sun  shines,  and  the  fair  breath  of 
heaven  gently  wafts  us  to  our  own  purposes.  But  if  you 
will  try  the  excellency,  and  feel  the  work  of  faith,  place 
the  man  in  a  persecution,  let  him  ride  in  a  storm,  let  his 
bones  be  broken  with  sorrow,  and  his  eyelids  loosened  with 
sickness,  let  his  bread  be  dipped  in  tears,  and  all  the 
daughters  of  music  be  brought  low ;  let  God  commence  a 
quarrel  against  him,  and  be  bitter  in  the  accents  of  his  an- 
ger or  his  discipline  ;  then  God  tries  your  faith.  Can  you 
then  trust  his  goodness ;  and  believe  him  to  be  a  father, 
when  you  groan  under  his  rod  ?  Can  you  rely  upon  all  the 
strange  propositions  of  Scripture,  and  be  content  to  perish, 
if  they  be  not  true  ?  Can  you  receive  comfort  in  the  dis- 
courses of  death  and  heaven,  of  immortality  and  the  resur- 
rection, of  the  death  of  Christ  and  conforming  to  his  suf- 
ferings? Truth  is,  there  are  but  two  great  periods  in  which 
faith  demonstrates  itself  to  be  a  powerful  and  mighty 
grace  :  and  they  are  persecution  and  the  approaches  of 
death  for  the  passive  part,  and  a  temptation  for  the  active. 
In  the  days  of  pleasure  and  the  night  of  pain,  faith  is  to 
fight  her  agonisticon,  to  contend  for  mastery  :  and  faith 
overcomes  all  alluring  and  fond  temptations  to  sin,  and 
faith  overcomes  all  our  weaknesses  and  faintings  in  our 
troubles.  By  the  faith  of  the  promises  we  learn  to  despise 
the  world,  choosing  those  objects  which  faith  discovers ; 
and,  by  expectation  of  the  same  promises,  we  are  com- 
forted in  all  our  sorrows,  and  enabled  to  look  through  and 
see  beyond  the  cloud  :  but  the  vigour  of  it  is  pressed  and 
called  forth,  when  all  our  fine  discourses  come  to  be  re- 
duced to  practice.  For  in  our  health  and  clearer  days  it 
is  easy  to  talk  of  putting  trust  in  God  ;  we  readily  trust 
him  for  life,  when  we  are  in  health ;  for  provisions,  when 
we  have  fair  revenues ;  and  for  deliverance,  when  we  are 


84  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE. 

newly  escaped:  but  let  us  come  to  sit  upon  the  margent 
of  our  grave,  and  let  a  tyrant  lean  hard  upon  our  fortunes 
and  dwell  Lipon  our  wTong-,  let  the  storm  arise,  and  the 
keel  toss  till  the  cordage  crack,  or  tliat  all  our  hopes  bulge 
under  us,  and  descend  into  the  hollowness  of  sad  misfor- 
tunes ;  then  can  you  believe,  when  you  neither  hear,  nor 
see,  nor  feel  any  thing  but  objections]  This  is  the  proper 
work  of  "sickness :  faith  is  then  brought  into  the  theatre  ; 
and  so  exercised,  that  if  it  abides  but  to  the  end  of  the  con- 
tention, we  may  see  that  work  of  faith,  which  God  will 
hugely  crown.  The  same  I  say  of  hope,  and  of  charity,  or 
the  love  of  God,  and  of  patience,  which  is  a  grace  produced 
from  the  n>ixtures  of  all  these  :  they  are  virtues  which  are 
greedy  of  danger,  and  no  man  was  ever  honoured  by  any 
wise  or  discerning  person  for  dining  upon  Persian  carpets, 
nor  rewarded  with  a  crown  for  being  at  ease.  It  was  the 
fire  that  did  honour  to  Mutius  Scaevola ;  poverty  made 
Fabricius  famous ;  Rutilius  was  made  excellent  by  banish- 
ment; Regulus  by  torments;  Socrates  by  prison;  Cato 
by  his  deatii :  and  Go.l  hath  crowned  the  memory  of  Job 
with  a  wreath  of  glory,  because  he  sat  upon  his  dunghill 
wisely  and  temperately ;  and  his  potsherd  and  his  groans, 
mingled  with  praises  and  justifications  of  God,  pleased  hirn 
like  an  anthem,  sung  by  angels  in  the  morning  of  the  re- 
surrection. God  could  not  choose  but  be  pleased  with  the 
delicious  accents  of  martyrs,  when  in  their  tortures  they  cried 
out  nothing  but  "Holy  Jesus"  and  "JBlesscd  be  God;" 
and  they  also  themselves,  who,  with  a  hearty  designation 
to  the  Divine  pleasure,  can  delight  in  God's  severe  dispen- 
sation, will  have  the  transportations  of  cherubim,  when 
they  enter  into  the  joys  of  God.  If  God  be  delicious  to 
his  servants  when  he  smites  them,  he  will  be  nothing  but 
ravishments  and  ecstaciesto  their  spirits,  when  he  refreshes 
them  with  the  overflowings  of  joy  in  the  day  of  recom- 
penses. No  man  is  more  miserable  than  he  that  hath  no 
adversity:  that  man  is  not  tried,  whether  he  be  good  or 
bad:  and  God  never  crowns  those  virtues,  which  are  only 
faculties  and  dispositions :  but  every  act  of  virtue  is  an  in- 
gredient into  reward.  And  we  see  many  children  fairly 
planted,  whose  parts  of  nature  were  never  dressed  by  art, 
nor  called  from  the  furrows  of  their  first  possibilities  by 
discipline  and  institution,  and  they  dwell  for  ever  in  igno- 
rance, and  converse  with  beasts ;  and  yet,  if  they  had  been 


REMEDIES  ACJAINST  IMPATIENCE.  55 

■  dressed  and  exercised,  might  have  stood  at  the  chairs  of 
princes,  or  spoken  parables  amongst  the  rulers  of  cities. 
Our  virtues  are  but  in  the  seed,  when  the  grace  of  God 
comes  uj)on  us  first :  but  this  grace  must  be  thrown  into 
broken  furrows,  and  must  twice  feel  the  cold,  and  twice 
feel  the  heat,  and  be  softened  with  storms  and  showers, 
and  then  it  will  arise  into  fruitfulness  and  harvests.  And 
what  is  there  in  the  world  to  distinguish  virtues  from  dis- 
honours, or  the  valour  of  Caesar  from  the  softness  of  the 
^Egyptian  eunuchs,  or  that  can  make  any  thing  reward- 
able,  but  the  labour  and  the  danger,  the  pain  and  the  dif- 
ficulty? Virtue  could  not  be  any  thing  but  sensuality,  if  it 
were  the  entertainment  of  our  senses  and  fond  desires  ; 
and  Apicius  had  been  the  noblest  of  all  the  Romans,  if 
feeding  a  great  appetite  and  despising  the  severities  of  tem- 
perance had  been  the  work  and  proper  employment  of  a 
wise  man.  But  otherwise  do  fathers,  and  otherwise  do 
mothers,  handle  their  children.  These  soften  them  with 
kisses  and  imperfect  noises,  with  the  pap  and  breast-milk 
of  soft  endearments ;  they  rescue  them  from  tutors,  and 
snatch  them  from  discipline  ;  they  desire  to  keep  them  fat 
and  warm,  and  their  feet  dry,  and  their  bellies  full;  and 
then  the  children  govern,  and  cry,  and  prove  fools  and  trou- 
blesome, so  long  as  the  feminine  republic  does  endure. 
But  fathers,  because  they  design  to  have  their  children 
wise  and  valiant,  apt  for  counsel  or  for  arms,  send  them  to 
severe  governments,  and  tie  them  to  study,  to  hard  labour, 
and  afflictive  contingences.  They  rejoice,  when  the  bold 
boy  strikes  a  lion  with  his  hunting  spear,  and  shrinks  not 
when  the  beast  comes  to_  affright  his  early  courage.  Soft- 
ness is  for  slaves  and  beasts,  for  minstrels  and  useless  per- 
sons, for  such  who  cannot  ascend  higher  than  the  state  of 
a  fair  ox,  or  a  servant  entertained  for  vainer  offices  :  but 
the  man  that  designs  his  son  for  noble  employments,  to 
honours  and  to  triumphs,  to  consular  dignities  and  presi- 
dencies of  councils,  loves  to  see  him  pale  with  study,  or 
panting  with  labour,  hardened  with  sufferance,  or  eminent 
by  dangers.  And  so  God  dresses  us  for  heaven.  He  loves 
to  see  us  struggling  with  a  disease,  and  resisting  the  devil, 
and  contesting  against  the  weaknesses  of  nature,  and 
against  hope  to  believe  in  hope,  resigning  ourselves  to  God's 
will,  praying  him  to  choose  for  us,  and  dying  in  all  things 
but  faith  and  its  blessed  consequents ;  ut  ad  afficium  cum 
h  2L 


86  REMEDIES  AGATXST  IMPATIENCE. 

peHculo  simus  promptl  ;  and  the  danger  and  the  resistance 
shall  endear  the  office.  For  so  have  I  known  the  boister- 
ous north  wind  pass  through  the  yielding  air,  which  opened 
its  bosom,  and  appeased  its  violence  by  entertaining  it  with 
easy  compliance  in  all  the  regions  of  its  reception  :  but 
when  the  same  breath  of  heaven  hath  been  checked  with 
the  stiffness  of  a  tower,  or  the  united  strength  of  a  wood, 
it  grew  mighty  and  dwelt  there,  and  made  the  highest 
branches  stoop,  and  make  a  smooth  path  for  it  on  the  top 
of  all  its  glories.  So  is  sickness,  and  so  is  the  grace  of 
God :  when  sickness  hath  made  the  difficulty,  then  God's 
grace  hath  made  a  triumph,  and  by  doubling  its  power 
hath  created  new  proportions  of  a  reward  :  and  then  shows 
its  biggest  glory,  when  it  hath  the  greatest  difficulty  to 
master,  the  greatest  weaknesses  to  support,  the  most  busy 
temptations  to  contest  with  ;  for  so  God  loves,  that  his 
strength  should  be  seen  in  our  weakness  and  our  danger. 
Happy  is  that  state  of  life,  in  which  our  services  to  God  are 
the  dearest  and  the  most  expensive. 

5.  Sickness  hath  some  degrees  of  eligibility,  at  least  by 
an  after-choice ;  because  to  all  persons,  which  are  within 
the  possibilities  and  state  of  pardon,  it  becomes  a  great  in- 
strument of  pardon  for  sins.  For  as  God  seldom  rewards 
here  and  hereafter  too:  so  it  is  not  very  often,  that  he  pun- 
ishes in  both  states.  In  great  and  final  sins,  he  doth  so; 
but  we  find  it  expressed  only  in  the  case  of  the  sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost,  "  which  shall  never  be  forgiven  in  this 
world,  nor  in  the  world  to  come,"  that  is,  it  shall  be  pun- 
ished in  both  worlds,  and  the  infelicities  of  this  world  shall 
but  usher  in  the  intolerable  calamities  of  the  next.  But 
this  is  in  a  case  of  extremity,  and  in  sins  of  an  unpardon- 
able malice  :  in  those  lesser  stages  of  death,  which  are  de- 
viations from  the  rule,  and  not  a  destruction  and  perfect 
antinomy  to  the  whole  institution,  God  very  often  smites 
with  his  rod  of  sickness,  that  he  may  not  for  ever  be  slay- 
ing the  soul  with  eternal  death.  "  I  will  visit  their  offences 
with  the  rod,  and  their  sin  with  scourges ;  neverthe- 
less my  loving-kindness  will  I  not  utterly  take  from  him, 
nor  suffer  my  truth  to  fail."*  And  there  is,  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, a  delivering  over  to  Satan,t  and  a  consequent  buf- 
feting, for  the  mortification  of  the  flesh  indeed,  but  that 
the  soul  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord.  And  to 
*  Psal  Ixxxix.  32,  33.  1 1  Cor.  v.  5.     1  Tim.  i.  20. 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE.  87 

some  persons  the  utmost  process  of  God's  anger  reaches 
but  to  a  sliarp  sickness,  or  at  most  but  to  a  temporal  death  ; 
and  then  the  little  momentary  anger  is  spent,  and  exi)ires 
in  rest  and  a  quiet  grave.  Origen,  St.  Augustine,  and 
Cassian  say,  concerning  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  that  they 
were  slain  with  a  sudden  death,  that  by  such  a  judgment 
their  sin  might  be  punished,  and  their  guilt  expiated,  and 
their  persons  reserved  for  mercy  in  the  day  of  judgment. 
And  God  cuts  off  many  of  his  children  from  the  land  of 
the  living ;  and  yet,  when  they  are  numbered  amongst  our 
dead,  he  finds  them  in  the  book  of  life,  written  amongst 
those  that  shall  live  to  him  for  ever.  And  thus  it  happened 
to  many  new  Christians,  in  the  church  of  Corinth,  for  their 
little  indecencies  and  disorders  in  the  circumstances  of  re- 
ceiving the  holy  sacrament.  St.  Paul  says,  that  "  many 
amongst  them  were  sick,  many  were  weak,  and  some  were 
fallen  asleep."*  He  expresses  the  Divine  anger  against 
those  persons  in  no  louder  accents ;  which  is  according  to 
the  style  of  the  New  Testament,  where  all  the  great  trans- 
actions of  duty  and  reproof  are  generally  made  upon  the 
stock  of  heaven,  and  hell  is  plainly  a  reserve,  and  a  period 
set  to  the  declaration  of  God's  wrath.  For  God  knows, 
that  the  torments  of  hell  are  so  horrid,  so  insupportable  a 
calamity,  that  he  is  not  easy  and  apt  to  cast  those  souls, 
which  he  hath  taken  so  much  care,  and  hath  been  at  so 
much  expense  to  save,  into  the  eternal  never-dying  flames 
of  hell,  lightly,  for  smaller  sins,  or  after  a  fairly-begun  re- 
pentance, and  in  the  midst  of  holy  desires  to  finish  it ;  but 
God  takes  such  penalties,  and  exacts  such  fines  of  us,  which 
we  may  pay  salvo  contenemcnto,  saving  the  main  stake  of 
all,  even  our  precious  souls.  And  therefore  St.  Augustine 
prayed  to  God  in  his  penitential  sorrows,  "  Here,  O  Lord, 
burn  and  cut  my  flesh,  that  thou  mayest  spare  me  for  ever." 
For  so  said  our  blessed  Saviour,  "  Every  sacrifice  must  be 
seasoned  with  salt,  and  every  sacrifice  must  be  burnt  M'ith 
fire  ;"  that  is,  we  must  abide  in  the  state  of  grace ;  and,  if 
we  have  committed  sins,  we  must  expect  to  be  put  into 
the  state  of  affliction ;  and  yet  the  sacrifice  will  send  up  a 
right  and  untroubled  cloud,  and  a  sweet  smell  to  joiii  with 
the  incense  of  the  altar,  where  the  eternal  priest  ofTers  a 
never  ceasing  sacrifice.  And  now  I  have  said  a  thing, 
against  which  there  can  be  no  exceptions,  and  of  which 
*  1  Cor.  xi.  30. 


SS  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE. 

no  just  reason  can  make  abatement.  For  when  sickness, 
which  is  the  condition  of  our  nature,  is  called  for  with  pur- 
poses of  redemption ;  when  vv^e  are  sent  to  death  to  se- 
cure eternal  life  ;  when  God  strikes  us,  that  he  may  spare 
us,  it  shows,  that  we  have  done  things  which  he  essential- 
ly hates ;  and  therefore  we  must  be  smitten  with  the  rod 
of  God :  but,  in  the  midst  of  judgment,  God  remembers 
mercy,  and  makes  the  rod  to  be  medicinal ;  and,  like  the 
rod  of  God  in  the  hand  of  Aaron,  to  shoot  forth  buds  and 
leaves,  and  almonds,  hopes  and  mercies,  and  eternal  re- 
compenses, in  the  day  of  restitution.  This  is  so  great  a 
good  to  us,  if  it  be  well  conducted  in  all  the  channels  of  its 
intention  and  design,  that  if  we  had  put  off  the  objections 
of  the  flesh,  with  abstractions,  contempts,  and  separations, 
so  as  we  ought  to  do,  it  were  as  earnestly  to  be  prayed 
for,  as  any  gay  blessing  that  crowns  our  cups  with  joy, 
and  our  heads  with  garlands  and  forgetfulness.  But  this 
was  it  which  I  said,  that  this  may,  nay,  that  it  ought  to  be 
chosen,  at  least  by  an  after  election;  for  so  said  St.  Paul, 
"If  we  judge  ourselves,  we  shall  not  be  condemned  of  the 
Lord  :"  that  is,  if  we  judge  ourselves  worthy  of  the  sick- 
ness, if  we  acknowledge  and  confess  God's  justice  in  smit- 
ing us,  if  we  take  the  rod  of  God  in  our  own  hands,  and 
are  willing  to  imprint  it  in  the  flesh,  we  are  workers  to- 
gether with  God  in  the  infliction  ;  and  then  the  sickness, 
beginning  and  being  managed  in  the  virtue  of  repentance, 
and  patience,  and  resignation,  and  charity,  will  end  in  peace, 
and  pardon,  and  justification,  and  consignation  to  glory. 
That  I  have  spoken  truth,  I  have  brought  God's  Spirit 
speaking  in  Scripture  for  a  witness.  But  if  this  be  true, 
there  are  not  many  states  of  life  that  have  advantages, 
which  can  outweigh  this  great  instrument  of  security  to  our 
final  condition.  Moses  died  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lord, 
said  the  story ;  he  died  with  the  kisses  of  the  Lord's 
mouth  ;*'  (so  the  Chaldee  paraphrase  ;)  it  was  the  greatest 
act  of  kindness  that  God  did  to  his  servant  Moses  ;  he 
kissed  him,  and  he  died.  But  I  have  some  things  to  ob- 
serve for  the  better  finishing  this  consideration. 

1.  All  these  advantages  and  lessenings  of  evils  in  the 
state  of  sickness  are  only  upon  the  stock  of  virtue  and  re- 
ligion.    There  is  nothing  can  make  sickness  in  any  sense 
eligible,  or  in  many  senses  tolerable,  but  only  the   grace 
*  Deut.  xxxiv.  5. 


REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMrATlENCE.  qq 

of  God;  tliat  only  turns  sickness  into  easiness  anil  felicity, 
which  also  turns  it  into  virtue.  For  whosoever  goes  about 
to  comfort  a  vicious  person,  when  he  lies  sick  upon  his  bed, 
can  only  discourse  of  the  necessities  of  nature,  of  the  un- 
avoidablencss  of  the  suffering,  of  the  accidental  vexations 
and  increase  of  torments  by  impatience,  of  the  fellowship  of 
all  the  sons  of  Adam,  and  such  other  little  considerations  : 
which  indeed,  if  sadly  reflected  upon,  and  found  to  stand 
alone,  teach  him  nothing  but  the  degree  of  his  calamity, 
and  the  evil  of  his  condition,  and  teach  him  such  a  patience 
and  minister  to  him  such  a  comfort,  which  can  only  make 
him  to  observe  decent  gestures  in  his  sickness,  and  to 
converse  with  his  friends  and  standers-by,  so  as  may  do 
them  comfort,  and  ease  their  funeral  and  civil  complaints,' 
but  do  him  no  true  advantage ;  for,  all  that  may  be  spoken 
to  a  beast  when  he  is  crowned  with  hair-laces,  and  bound 
with  fillets  to  the  altar,  to  bleed  to  death  to  appease  the 
anger  of  the  Deity,  and  to  ease  the  burden  of  his  relatives. 
And  indeed  what  comfort  can  he  receive,  whose  sickness, 
as  it  looks  back,  is  an  effect  of  God's  indignation  and  fierce 
vengeance,  and  if  it  goes  forward  and  enters  into  the  gates 
of  the  grave,  is  a  beginning  of  a  sorrow,  that  shall  never 
have  an  ending?  But  when  the  sickness  is  a  messenger 
sent  from  a  chastising  father ;  when  it  first  turns  into  degrees 
of  innocence,  and  then  into  virtues,  and  thence  into  pardon  ; 
this  is  no  misery,  but  such  a  method  of  the  Divine  economy 
and  dispensation,  as  resolves  to  bring  us  to  heaven  with- 
out any  new  impositions,  but  merely  upon  the  stock  and 
charges  of  nature. 

2.  Let  it  be  observed,  that  these  advantages,  which 
spring  from  sickness,  are  not  in  all  instances  of  virtue,  nor 
to  all  persons.  Sickness  is  the  proper  scene  for  patience 
and  resignation,  for  all  the  passive  graces  of  a  Christian, 
for  faith  and  hope,  and  for  some  single  acts  of  the  love  of 
God.  But  sickness  is  not  a  lit  station  for  a  penitent ;  and 
it  can  serve  the  ends  of  the  grace  of  repentance  but  acci- 
dentally. Sickness  may  begin  a  repentance,  if  God  con- 
tinues life,  and  if  we  co-operate  with  the  Divine  grac€ ;  or 
sickness  may  help  to  alleviate  the  wrath  of  God,  and  to 
facilitate  the  pardon,  if  all  the  other  parts  of  this  duty  be 
performed  in  our  healthful  state  :  so  that  it  may  serve  at 
the  entrance  in,  or  at  the  going  out.  But  sickness,  at  no 
hand,  is  a  good  stage  to  represent  all  the  substantial  parts 
A  2  2  L  2 


90  REMEDIES  AGAINST  IMPATIENCE. 

of  this  duty.  1.  It  invites  to  it ;  2.  It  makes  it  appear  ne- 
cessary ;  3.  It  takes  oft'  the  fancies  of  vanity  ;  4.  It  attem- 
pers the  spirit;  5.  It  cures  hypocrisy;  6.  It  tames  the 
fumes  of  pride  ;  7.  It  is  the  school  of  patience  ;  8.  And  by 
taking  us  from  oft'  the  brisker  relishes  of  the  world,  it 
makes  us  with  more  gust  to  taste  the  things  of  the  Spirit ; 
and  all  this,  only  when  God  fits  the  circumstances  of  the 
sickness  so  as  to  consist  with  acts  of  reason,  consideration, 
choice,  and  a  present  and  reflecting  mind ;  which  then 
God  sends,  when  he  means  that  the  sickness  of  the  body 
should  be  the  cure  of  the  soul.  But  let  no  man  so  rely 
upon  it,  as  by  design,  to  trust  the  beginning,  the  progress, 
and  the  consummation  of  our  piety  to  such  an  estate,  which 
for  ever  leaves  it  imperfect :  and  though  to  some  persons 
it  adds  degrees,  and  ministers  opportunities,  and  exercises 
single  acts  with  great  advantage,  in  passive  graces ;  yet  it 
is  never  an  entire  or  sufficient  instrument  for  the  change 
of  our  condition  from  the  state  of  death  to  the  liberty  and 
life  of  the  sons  of  God. 

3.  It  were  good,  if  we  would  transact  the  affairs  of  our 
souls  with  nobleness  and  ingenuity,  and  that  we  would 
by  an  early  and  forward  religion,  prevent  the  necessary 
arts  of  the  Divine  providence.  It  is  true,  that  God  cures 
some  by  incision,  by  fire  and  torments ;  but  these  are  ever 
the  more  obstinate  and  more  unrelenting  natures.  God's 
providence  is  not  so  afflictive  and  full  of  trouble,  as  that  it 
hath  placed  sickness  and  infirmity  amongst  things  simply 
necessary ;  and,  in  most  persons,  it  is  but  a  sickly  and  an 
effeminate  virtue,  wliich  is  imj>rinted  upon  our  spirits  with 
fears,  and  the  sorrows  of  a  fever,  or  a  peevish  consumption. 
It  is  but  a  miserable  remedy  to  be  beholden  to  a  sickness 
for  our  health :  and  though  it  be  better  to  suffer  the  loss  of 
a  finger,  than  that  the  arm  and  the  whole  body  should  pu- 
trefy, yet  even  then  also  it  is  a  trouble  and  an  evil  to  lose 
a  finger.  He  that  mends  with  sickness,  pares  the  nails  of 
the  beast,  when  they  have  already  torn  off  })art  of  the  flesh  ; 
but  he  that  would  have  a  sickness  become  a  clear  and  an 
entire  blessing,  a  thing  indeed  to  be  reckoned  among  the 
good  things  of  God,  and  the  evil  things  of  the  world,  must 
lead  a  holy  life,  and  judge  himself  with  an  early  sentence, 
and  so  order  the  affairs  of  his  soul,  that,  in  the  usual  me- 
thod of  God's  saving  us,  there  may  be  nothing  left  to  be 
done,  but  that  such  virtues   should  be  exercised,  which 


REMEDIES  AGALN'ST  IMPATIENCE.  91 

God  intends  to  crown  :  and  then,  as  vviien  the  Athenians 
upon  a  (hiy  of  battle,  with  longing  and  uncertain  souls, 
sitting  in  their  common-hall  expecting  what  would  be  the 
sentence  of  the  day,  at  last  received  a  messenger,  who 
only  had  breath  enough  left  him  to  say,  "  Wc  are  con- 
querors," and  so  died  ;  so  shall  the  sick  person,  who  hath 
"  fought  a  good  fight  and  kept  the  faith,"  and  only  waits 
for  his  dissolution  and  his  sentence,  breathe  forth  his  spirit 
with  the  accents  of  a  conqueror,  and  his  sickness,  and  his 
death  shall  only  make  the  mercy  and  the  virtue  more 
illustrious. 

But  for  the  sickness  itself;  if  all  the  calumnies  were 
true  concerning  it,  with  which  it  is  aspersed,  yet  it  is  far 
to  be  preferred  before  the  most  pleasant  sin,  and  before  a 
great  secular  business  and  a  temporal  care :  and  some  men 
wake  as  much  in  the  foldings  of  the  softest  beds,  as  others 
on  the  cross  :  and  sometimes  the  very  weight  of  sorrow 
and  the  weariness  of  a  sickness  press  the  spirit  into  slum- 
bers and  the  images  of  rest,  when  the  intemperate  or  the 
lustful  person  rolls  upon  his  uneasy  thorns,  and  sleep  is 
departed  from  his  eyes.  Certain  it  is,  some  sickness  is  a 
blessing.  Indeed,  blindness  were  a  most  accursed  thing, 
if  no  man  were  ever  blind,  but  he  whose  eyes  were  pulled 
out  with  tortures  of  burning  basins:  and  if  sickness  were 
always  a  testimony  of  God's  anger,  and  a  violence  to  a 
man's  whole  condition,  then  it  were  a  huge  calamity.  But 
because  God  sends  it  to  his  servants,  to  his  children,  to 
little  infants,  to  apostles  and  saints,  with  designs  of  mercy, 
to  preserve  their  innocence,  to  overcome  temptation,  to  try 
their  virtue,  to  fit  them  for  rewards ;  it  is  certain  that  sick- 
ness never  is  an  evil  but  by  our  own  faults ;  and  if  we  will 
do  our  duty,  we  shall  be  sure  to  turn  it  into  a  blessing. 
If  the  sickness  be  great,  it  may  end  in  death,  and  the 
greater  it  is  the  sooner :  and  if  it  be  very  little,  it  hath 
great  intervals  of  rest :  if  it  be  between  both,  we  may  be 
masters  of  it,  and,  by  serving  the  ends  of  Providence,  serve 
also  the  perfective  end  of  human  nature,  and  enter  into  the 
possession  of  everlasting  mercies. 

The  sum  is  this :  lie  that  is  afraid  of  pain,  is  afraid  of 
his  own  nature  ;  and  if  his  fear  be  violent,  it  is  a  sign,  his 
patience  is  none  at  all ;  and  an  impatient  person  is  not 
ready-dressed  for  heaven.     None   but   suffering,  humble, 


92  REMEDIES  AGAINST 

and  patient  persons  can  go  to  heaven ;  and  when  God 
hath  given  us  the  whole  stage  of  our  life  to  exercise  all  the 
active  virtues  of  religion,  it  is  necessary  in  the  state  of  vir- 
tues, that  some  portion  and  period  of  our  lives  be  assigned 
to  passive  graces ;  for  patience,  for  Christian  fortitude,  for 
resignation,  or  conformity  to  the  Divine  will.  But  as  the 
violent  fear  of  sickness  makes  us  impatient,  so  it  will 
make  our  death  without  comfort  and  w^ithout  religion;  and 
we  shall  go  oft'  from  our  stage  of  actions  and  sufferings 
with  an  unhandsome  exit,  because  we  were  willing  to  re- 
ceive the  kindness  of  God,  when  he  expressed  it  as  we 
listed ;  but  w^e  would  not  suffer  him  to  be  kind  and  gra- 
cious to  us  in  his  own  method,  nor  were  willing  to  exercise 
and  improve  our  virtues  at  the  charge  of  a  sharp  fever,  or 
a  lingering  consumption.  "  Woe  be  to  the  man,  that  hath 
lost  patience ;  for  what  will  he  do,  when  the  Lord  shall 
visit  him  ?"* 

SECTION  VII. 

The  second  Temptation  proper  to  the  State  of  Sickness ^ 
Fear  of  Death,  with  its  Remedies. 

There  is  nothing  which  can  make  sickness  unsanctified, 
but  the  same  also  will  give  us  cause  to  fear  death.  If 
therefore,  we  so  order  our  affairs  and  spirits  that  w-e  do  not 
fear  death,  our  sickness  may  easily  become  our  advantage  ; 
and  we  can  then  receive  counsel,  and  consider,  and  do 
those  acts  of  virtue,  which  are,  in  that  state,  the  proper 
services  of  God;  and  such  which  men  in  bondage  and  fear 
are  not  capable  of  doing,  or  of  advices  how  they  should, 
when  they  come  to  the  appointed  days  of  mourning.  And 
indeed,  if  men  would  but  place  their  design  of  being  hap- 
py in  the  nobleness,  courage,  and  perfect  resolutions  of 
doing  handsome  things,  and  passing  through  our  unavoidable 
necessities,  in  the  contempt  and  despite  of  the  things  of 
this  world,  and  in  holy  living,  and  the  perfective  desires  of 
our  natures,  the  longings  and  pursuances  after  heaven  ; 
it  is  certain,  they  could  not  be  made  miserable  by  chance 
and  change,  by  sickness  and  death.  But  w^e  are  so  soften- 
ed, and  made  effeminate  with  delicate  thoughts,  and 
meditations  of  ease,  and  brutish  satisfactions,  that,  if  our 
death  come  before  we  have  seized  upon  a  great  fortune, 
*  Eccles.  ii.  15. 


FEAR  OF  DEATH.  93 

or  enjoy  the  promises  of  the  fortune-tellers,  we  esteem  our- 
selves (o  be  robbed  of  our  g-oods,  to  be  mocked,  and  mi- 
serable. Hence  it  comes,  that  men  are  im])atient  of  the 
thou<>lits  of  death  ;  hence  comes  those  arts  of  protraction 
and  dclayin^r  the  significations  of  old  age ;  thinking  to  de- 
ceive the  world,  men  cozen  themselves,  and  by  rc])resenting 
themselves  youthful,  they  certainly  continue  their  vanity, 
till  Proserpina  pull  the  peruke  from  their  heads.  We  cannot 
deceive  God  and  nature  :  for  a  coffin  is  a  coffin,  though  it 
be  covered  with  a  pompous  veil  ;  and  the  minutes  of  our 
time  strike  on,  and  are  counted  by  angels,  till  the  period 
comes,  which  must  cause  the  passing-bell  to  give  warning 
to  all  the  neighbours,  that  thou  art  dead,  and  they  must  be 
so  :  and  nothing  can  excuse  or  retard  this.  And  if  our 
death  could  be  put  off  a  little  longer,  what  advantage  can 
it  be,  in  thy  accounts  of  nature  and  felicity  ?  They  that 
three  thousand  years  agone,  died  unwillingly,  and  stopped 
death  two  days,  or  stayed  it  a  week,  what  is  their  gain  ? 
where  is  that  week  ?  And  poor-spirited  men  use  arts  of 
protraction,  and  make  their  persons  pitiable,  but  their  con- 
dition contemptible  ;  being  like  the  poor  sinners  at  Noah's 
flood  :  the  waters  drove  them  out  of  their  lower  rooms : 
then  they  crept  up  to  the  roof,  having  lasted  half  a  day 
longer,  and  then  they  knew  not  how  to  get  down  :  some 
crept  upon  the  top-branch  of  a  tree,  and  some  climbed  up 
to  a  mountain,  and  stayed,  it  may  be,  three  days  longer;  but 
all  that  while  they  endured  a  worse  torment  than  death  : 
they  lived  with  amazement,  and  were  distracted  with  the 
ruins  of  mankind,  and  the  horror  of  a  universal  deluge. 

Remedies  against  the  Fear  of  Death,  by  way  of  Consideration. 

1.  God  having  in  this  world  placed  us  in  a  sea,  and 
troubled  the  sea  with  a  continual  storm,  hath  appointed 
the  church  for  a  ship,  and  religion  to  be  the  stern  ;  but 
there  is  no  haven  or  port  but  death.  Death  is  that  har- 
bour, whither  God  hath  designed  every  one,  that  there  he 
may  find  rest  from  the  troubles  of  the  world.  How  many 
of  the  noblest  Romans  have  taken  death  for  sanctuary, 
and  have  esteemed  it  less  than  shame  or  a  mean  dishonour? 
and  Caesar  was  cruel  to  Doniitius,  captain  of  Corfinium, 
when  he  had  taken  the  town  from  him,  that  he  refused  to 
sign  his  petition  of  death.  Death  would  have  hid  his  head 
with  honour,  but  that  cruel  mercy  reserved  him  to  the 


94  REMEDIES  AGAINST 

shame  of  surviving  his  disgrace.  The  holy  Scripture,  giv- 
ing an  account  of  the  reasons  of  the  Divine  providence 
taking  godly  men  from  this  world,  and  shutting  them  up 
in  a  hasty  grave,  says,  "  that  they  are  taken  from  the  evils 
to  come  :"  and  concerning  ourselves  it  is  certain,  if  we  had 
ten  years  agone  taken  seizure  of  our  portion  of  dust,  death 
had  not  taken  us  from  good  things,  but  from  mfinite  evils, 
such  which  the  sun  hath  seldom  seen.  Did  not  Priamus 
weep  oftener  than  Troilus  ?  and  happy  had  he  been,  if  he 
had  died,  when  his  sons  were  living,  and  his  kingdom  safe 
and  houses  full,  and  his  city  unburnt.  It  was  a  long  life 
that  made  him  miserable,  and  an  early  death  only  could 
have  secured  his  fortune.  And  it  hath  happened  many 
times,  that  persons  of  a  fair  life  and  a  clear  reputation,  of 
a  good  fortune  and  an  honourable  name,  have  been  tempted 
in  their  age  to  folly  and  vanity,  have  fallen  under  the  dis- 
grace of  dotage,  or  into  an  unfortunate  marriage,  or  have 
besotted  themselves  with  drinking,  or  outlived  their  for- 
tunes, or  become  tedious  to  their  friends,  or  are  afflicted 
with  lingering  and  vexatious  diseases,  or  lived  to  see  their 
excellent  parts  buried,  and  cannot  understand  the  wise 
discourses  and  productions  of  their  younger  years.  In  all 
these  cases,  and  infinite  more,  do  not  all  the  world  say, 
that  it  had  been  better,  this  man  had  died  sooner  1  But  so 
have  I  known  passionate  women  to  shriek  aloud,  when  their 
nearest  relatives  were  dying,  and  that  horrid  shriek  hath 
stayed  the  spirit  of  the  man  awhile  to  wonder  at  the  folly, 
and  represent  the  inconvenience  ;  and  the  dying  person 
hath  lived  one  day  longer  full  of  pain,  amazed  with  an  in- 
determinate spirit,  distorted  with  convulsions,  and  only 
come  again  to  act  one  scene  more  of  a  new  calamity,  and 
to  die  with  less  decency.  So  also  do  very  many  men  ; 
with  passion  and  a  troubled  interest  they  strive  to  continue 
their  life  longer ;  and,  it  may  be,  they  escape  this  sickness, 
and  live  to  fall  into  a  disgrace  :  they  escape  the  storm,  and 
fall  into  the  hands  of  pirates;  and,  instead  of  dying  with 
liberty,  they  live  like  slaves,  miserable  and  despised,  ser- 
vants to  a  little  time,  and  sottish  admirers  of  the  brea'.h  of 
their  own  lungs.  Paulus  ^'Emilius  did  handsomely  reprove 
the  cowardice  of  the  King  ot  Macedon,  who  begged  of  him, 
for  pity's  sake  and  humanity,  that  having  conquered  him 
and  taken  his  kingdom  from  him,  he  would  be  content 
with  that,  and  not  lead  him  in  triumph  a  prisoner  to  Rome, 


FEAR  OF  DEATH.  95 

-c'Einilius  told  liim,  he  need  not  be  beholden  to  him  for  that; 
himself  nHt,r!it  prevent  tliat  in  despite  of  him.  But  the 
timorous  king'  durst  not  die.  But  certainly  every  wise 
man  will  easily  believe,  that  it  had  been  better  the  Mace- 
donian kings  should  have  died  in  battle,  than  protract 
their  life  so  long,  till  some  of  them  came  to  be  scriveners 
and  joiners  at  Rome  :  or  that  tlie  tyrant  of  Sicily  better 
had  perished  in  the  Adriatic,  than  to  be  wafted  to  Corinth 
safely,  and  there  turn  schoolmaster.  It  is  a  sad  calamity, 
that  the  fear  of  death  shall  so  imbecile  man's  courage  and 
understanding,  that  he  dares  not  suffer  the  remedy  of  all 
his  calamities ;  but  that  he  lives  to  say  as  Liberius  did,  "  1 
have  lived  this  one  day  longer  than  I  should."  Either, 
therefore,  let  us  be  willing  to  die,  when  God  calls,  or  let 
us  never  more  complain  of  the  calamities  of  our  life,  which 
we  feel  so  sharp  and  numerous.  And  when  God  sends 
his  angel  to  us  with  the  scroll  of  death,  let  us  look  on  it  as 
an  act  of  mercy,  to  prevent  many  sins,  and  many  calamities 
of  a  longer  life,  and  lay  our  heads  down  softly,  and  go  to 
sleep  without  wrangling  like  babies  and  froward  chilclren. 
For  a  man  (at  least)  gets  this  by  death,  that  his  calamities 
are  not  immortal. 

But  I  do  not  only  consider  death  by  the  advantages  of 
comparison  ;  but  if  we  look  on  it  in  itself,  it  is  no  such  for- 
midable thing,  if  we  view  it  on  both  sides,  and  handle  it, 
and  consider  all  its  appendages. 

2.  It  is  necessary,  and  therefore  not  intolerable  :  and 
nothing  is  to  be  esteemed  evil,  which  God  and  nature  have 
fixed  with  eternal  sanctions.  It  is  a  law  of  God,  it  is  a 
punishment  of  our  sins,  and  it  is  the  constitution  of  our 
nature.  Two  differing  substances  were  joined  together 
with  the  breath  of  God,  and  when  that  breath  is  taken 
away,  they  part  asunder,  and  return  to  their  several  prin- 
ciples ;  the  soul  to  God  our  father,  the  body  to  the  earth 
our  mother  :  and  what  in  all  this  is  evil?  Surely  nothing, 
but  that  we  are  men  :  nothing,  but  that  we  were  not  born 
immortal :  but  by  declining  this  change  with  great  passion, 
or  receiving  it  with  a  huge  natural  fear,  we  accuse  the 
Divine  providence  with  tyranny,  and  exclaim  against  our 
natural  constitution,  and  are  discontent  that  we  are  men. 

3.  It  is  a  thing,  that  is  no  great  matter  in  itself ;  if  we 
consider,  that  we  die  daily,  that  it  meets  us  in  every  acci- 
dent, that  every  creature  carries  a  dart  along  with  it,  and 


96  REMEDIES  AGAINST 

can  kill  us.  And  therefore,  when  Lysirnachiis  threatened 
Theodorus  to  kill  him,  he  told  him,  that  was  Jio  great  mat- 
ter to  do,  and  he  could  do  no  more  than  the  catharides 
could  :  a  little  fly  could  do  as  much. 

4.  It  is  a  thing  that  every  one  suffers,  even  persons  of 
the  lowest  resolution,  of  the  meanest  virtue,  of  no  breeding, 
of  no  discourse.  Take  away  but  the  pomps  of  death,  the 
disguises  and  solemn  bugbears,  the  tinsel,  and  the  actings 
by  candle-light,  and  proper  and  fantastic  ceremonies,  the 
minstrels  and  the  noise-inakers,  the  women  and  the  weep- 
ers, the  swoonings  and  the  shiiekings,  the  nurses  and  the 
physicians,  the  dark  room  and  the  ministers,  the  kindred 
and  the  watches ;  and  then  to  die  is  easy,  ready  and  quitted 
from  its  troublesome  circumstances.  It  is  the  same  harm- 
less thing,  that  a  poor  shepherd  suffered  yesterday,  or  a 
maid-servant  to-day ;  and  at  the  same  time  in  which  you 
die,  in  that  very  night  a  thousand  creatures  die  with  you, 
some  Avise  men,  and  many  fools ;  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
first  will  not  quit  him,  and  the  folly  of  the  latter  does  not 
make  him  unable  to  die. 

5.  Of  all  the  evils  of  the  world  which  are  reproached 
with  an  evil  character,  death  is  the  most  innocent  of  its 
accusation.  For  when  it  is  present,  it  hurts  nobody ;  and 
when  it  is  absent,  it  is  indeed  troublesome,  but  the  trouble 
is  owing  to  our  fears,  not  to  the  affrighting  and  mistaken 
object ;  and  besides  this,  if  it  were  an  evil,  it  is  so  tran- 
sient, that  it  passes  like  the  instant  or  undiscerned  portion 
of  the  present  time  ;  and  either  it  is  past,  or  it  is  not  yet  ; 
for  just  when  it  is,  no  man  hath  reason  to  complain  of  so 
insensible,  so  sudden,  so  undiscerned  a  change. 

6.  It  is  so  harmless  a  thing,  that  no  good  man  was  ever 
thought  the  more  miserable  for  dying,  but  much  the  hap- 
pier. When  men  saw  the  graves  of  Calatinus,  of  the 
Servilii,  the  Scipios,  the  Metelli,  did  ever  any  man  among 
the  wisest  Romans  think  them  unhappy  ?  And  when  St. 
Paul  fell  under  the  sword  of  Nero,  and  St.  Peter  died  upon 
the  cross,  and  St.  Stephen  from  a  heap  of  stones  was  car- 
ried into  an  easier  grave,  they  that  made  great  lamentation 
over  them,  wept  for  their  own  interest,  and  after  the  man- 
ner of  men  ;  but  the  martyrs  were  accounted  happy,  and 
their  days  kept  solemnly,  and  their  memories  preserved  in 
never-dying  honours.  When  St.  Hilary,  bishop  of  Poic- 
tiers  in  France,  went  into  the  East    to  reprove  the  Arian 


FEAR  OF  DEATH.  97 

heresy,  he  heanl,  that  a  young  noble  gentleman  treated 
with  his  daughter  Abra  for  marriage.  The  bishop  wrote 
to  his  daughter,  that  she  should  not  engage  her  promise, 
nor  do  countenance  to  that  request,  because  he  had  pro- 
vided for  her  a  husband  fair,  rich,  wise,  and  noble,  far  be- 
yond her  present  offer.  The  event  of  which  was  this  :  she 
obeyed ;  and  when  her  father  returned  from  his  eastern 
triumph  to  his  western  charge,  he  prayed  to  God  that  his 
daughter  might  die  quickly  :  and  God  heard  his  prayers, 
and  Christ  took  her  into  his  bosom,  entertaining  her  with 
antepasts  and  caresses  of  holy  love,  till  the  day  of  the 
marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  shall  come.  But  when  the 
Bishop's  wife  observed  this  event,  and  understood  of  the 
good  man  her  husband  what  was  done,  and  why,  she  never 
let  him  alone,  till  he  obtained  the  same  favour  for  her;  and 
she  also,  at  the  prayers  of  St.  Hilary,  went  into  a  more  early 
grave  and  a  bed  of  joys. 

7.  It  is  a  sottish  and  an  unlearned  thing  to  reckon  the 
time  of  our  life,  as  it  is  short  or  long,  to  be  good  or  evil 
fortune  ;  life  in  itself  being  neither  good  nor  bad,  but  just 
as  we  make  it ;  and  therefore  so  is  death. 

8.  But  when  we  consider,  death  is  not  only  better  than 
a  miserable  life,  not  only  an  easy  and  innocent  thing  in  it- 
self, but  also  that  it  is  a  state  of  advantage,  we  shall  have 
reason  not  to  double  the  sharpnesses  of  our  sickness  by 
our  fear  of  death.  Certain  it  is,  death  hath  some  good 
upon  its  proper  stock ;  praise,  and  a  fair  memory,  a  reve- 
rence and  religion  towards  them  so  great,  that  it  is  counted 
dishonest  to  speak  evil  of  the  dead ;  then  they  rest  in 
peace,  and  are  quiet  from  their  labours,  and  are  designed 
to  immortality.  Cleobis  and  Biton,  Trophonius  and  Aga- 
medes,  had  an  early  death  sent  them  as  a  reward  ;  to  the 
former,  for  their  piety  to  their  mother ;  to  the  latter,  for 
building  of  a  temple.  To  this  all  those  arguments  will 
minister,  which  relate  the  advantages  of  the  state  of  sepa- 
ration and  resurrection. 

SECTION  VIII. 

Remedies  against  Fear  of  Death  by  icay  of  Exercise. 

1.  He  that  would  willingly.be  fearless  of  death,  must 

learn  to  despise  the  world  ;  he  must  neither  love  any  thing 

passionately,  nor  be  proud  of  any  circumstance  of  his  life. 

"  O  death,  how  bitter  is  the  remembrance  of  thee  to  a  man 

i  2M 


98  REMEDIES  AGAINST 

that  liveth  at  rest  in  his  possessions,  to  a  man  that  hath 
nothing  to  vex  him,  and  that  hath  prosperity  in  all  things ; 
yea,  unto  him  that  is  yet  able  to  receive  meat !"  said  the  son 
of  Sirach.  But  the  parts  of  this  exercise  help  each  other. 
If  a  man  be  not  incorporated  in  all  his  passions  to  the 
things  of  this  world,  he  will  less  fear  to  be  divorced  from 
them  by  a  supervening  death  ;  and  yet  because  he  must 
part  with  them  all  in  death,  it  is  but  reasonable,  he  should 
not  be  passionate  for  so  fugitive  and  transient  interest. 
But  if  any  man  thinks  well  of  himself  for  being  a  handsome 
person,  or  if  he  be  stronger  and  wiser  than  his  neighbours, 
he  must  remember,  that  what  he  boasts  of  will  decline  into 
weakness  and  dishonour ;  but  that  very  boasting  and  com- 
placency will  make  death  keener  and  more  unwelcome, 
because  it  comes  to  take  him  from  his  confidences  and 
pleasures,  making  his  beauty  equal  to  those  ladies  that 
have  slept  some  years  in  charnel-houses,  and  their  strength 
not  so  stubborn  as  the  breath  of  an  infant,  and  their  wis- 
dom such,  which  can  be  looked  for  in  the  land,  where  all 
things  are  forgotten. 

2.  He  that  would  not  fear  death,  must  strengthen  his 
spirits  with  the  proper  instruments  of  Christian  fortitude. 
All  men  are  resolved  upon  this,  that  to  bear  grief  honestly 
and  temperately,  and  to  die  willingly  and  nobly,  is  the  duty 
of  a  good  and  valiant  man  ;  and  they  that  are  not  so,  are 
vicious,  and  fools,  and  cowards.  All  men  praise  the  valiant 
and  honest ;  and  that,  which  the  very  heathen  admired  in 
their  noblest  examples,  is  especially  patience  and  contempt 
of  death.  Zeno  Eleates  endured  torments  rather  than  dis- 
cover his  friends,  or  betray  them  to  the  danger  of  the  ty- 
rant :  and  Calanus,  the  barbarous  and  unlearned  Indian, 
willingly  suffered  himself  to  be  burned  alive  :  and  all  the 
women  did  so,  to  do  honour  to  their  husband's  funerals, 
and  to  represent  and  prove  their  affections  great  to  their 
lords.  The  religion  of  a  Christian  does  more  command 
fortitude,  than  ever  did  any  institution  ;  for  we  are  com- 
manded to  be  willing  to  die  for  Christ,  to  die  for  the  bre- 
thren, to  die  rather  than  to  give  offence  or  scandal :  the 
effect  of  which  is  this,  that  he,  that  is  instructed  to  do  the 
necessary  parts  of  his  duty,  is,  by  the  same  instrument,  forti- 
fied against  death :  as  he  that  does  his  duty,  need  not  fear 
death,  so  neither  shall  he  ;  the  parts  of  bis  duty  are  parts 
of  his  security.     It  is  certainly  a  great  baseness  and  pusil- 


FEAR  OF  DEATH.  99 

lanimity  of  spirit  that  makes  death  terrible,  and  extremely 
to  be  avoided. 

3.  Christian  prudence  is  a  great  security  against  the 
fear  of  death.  For  if  we  be  afraid  of  death,  it  is  but  rea- 
sonable to  use  all  spiritual  arts  to  take  ofi' the  apprehension 
of  the  evil :  but  therefore  we  ought  to  remove  our  fear, 
because  fear  gives  to  death  wings,  and  spurs,  and  darts. 
Death  hastens  to  a  fearful  man  :  if  therefore  you  would 
make  death  harmless  and  slow,  to  throw  off  fear  is  the  way 
to  do  it ;  and  prayer  is  the  way  to  do  tliat.  If  therefore 
you  be  afraid  of  death,  consider  you  will  have  less  need  to 
fear  it,  by  how  much  the  less  you  do  fear  it :  and  so  cure 
your  direct  fear  by  a  reflex  act  of  prudence  and  considera- 
tion. Fannius  had  not  died  so  soon,  if  he  had  not  feared 
death  :  and  when  Cneius  Carbo  begged  the  respite  of  a  lit- 
tle time  for  a  base  employment  of  the  soldiers  of  Pompey, 
he  got  nothing,  but  that  the  baseness  of  his  fear  dishonour- 
ed the  dignity  of  his  third  consulship :  and  he  chose  to  die 
in  a  place  where  none  but  his  meanest  servants  should 
have  seen  him.  I  remember  a  story  of  the  wrestler  Poly- 
damas,  that,  running  into  a  cave  to  avoid  the  storm,  the  wa- 
ter at  last  swelled  so  high,  that  it  began  to  press  that 
hollowness  to  a  ruin :  which  when  his  fellows  espied,  they 
chose  to  enter  into  the  common  fate  of  all  men,  and  went 
abroad  :  but  Polydamas  thought  by  his  strength  to  support 
the  earth,  till  its  intolerable  weight  crushed  him  into  flat- 
ness and  a  grave.  Many  men  run  for  a  shelter  to  a  place, 
and  they  only  find  a  remedy  for  their  fears  by  feeling  the 
worst  of  evils.  Fear  itself  finds  no  sanctuary  but  the  worst 
of  sufferance :  and  they  that  fly  from  a  battle,  are  exposed 
to  the  mercy  and  fury  of  the  pursuers,  who,  if  they  faced 
about,  were  as  well  disposed  to  give  laws  of  life  and  death 
as  to  take  them,  and  at  worst  can  but  die  nobly  ;  but  now, 
even  at  the  very  best,  they  live  shamefully,  or  die  timorous- 
ly. Courage  is  the  greatest  security  ;  for  it  does  most  com- 
monly safeguard  the  man,  but  always  rescues  the  condition 
from  an  intolerable  evil. 

4.  If  thou  wilt  be  fearless  of  death,  endeavour  to  be  in 
love  wnth  the  felicities  of  saints  and  angels,  and  be  once 
persuaded  to  believe,  that  there  is  a  condition  of  living  bet- 
ter than  this ;  that  there  are  creatures  more  noble  than  we  ; 
that  above  there  is  a  country  better  than  ours  ;  that  the  in- 
habitants know  more  and  know  better,  and  are  in  places  of 


100  REMEDIES  AGAINST 

rest  and  desire ;  and  first  learn  to  value  it,  and  then  learn 
to  purchase  it,  and  death  cannot  be  a  formidable  thing, 
which  lets  us  into  so  much  joy  and  so  much  felicity.  And 
indeed  who  would  not  think  his  condition  mended,  if  he 
passed  from  conversing  with  dull  mortals,  with  ignorant 
and  foolish  persons,  with  tyrants  and  enemies  of  learning, 
to  converse  with  Homer  and  Plato,  with  Socrates  and  Ci- 
cero, with  Plutarch  and  Fabricius?  So  the  heathens  spe- 
culated ;  but  we  consider  higher.  "  The  dead  that  die  in 
the  Lord,"  shall  converse  with  St.  Paul,  and  all  the  college 
of  the  apostles,  and  all  the  saints  and  martyrs,  with  all  the 
good  men,  whose  memory  we  preserve  in  honour,  with  ex- 
cellent kings  and  holy  bishops,  and  with  the  great  shepherd 
and  bishop  of  our  souls  Jesus  Christ,  and  with  God  him- 
self.  For  "  Christ  died  for  us,  that,  whether  we  wake  or 
sleep,  we  might  live  together  with  him."  Then  we  shall 
be  free  from  lust  and  envy,  from  fear  and  rage,  from  covet- 
ousness  and  sorrow,  from  tears  and  cowardice  :  and  these 
indeed  properly  are  the  only  evils  that  are  contrary  to  feli- 
city and  wisdom.  Then  we  shall  see  strfmge  things,  and 
know  new  propositions,  and  all  things  in  another  manner, 
and  to  higher  purposes.  Clcombrotus  was  so  taken  with 
this  speculation,  that,  having  learned  from  Plato's  Pha3don 
the  soul's  abode,  he  had  not  patience  to  stay  nature's  dull 
leisure  but  leaped  from  a  wall  to  his  portion  of  immortality. 
And  when  Pomponius  Atticus  resolved  to  die  by  famine,  to 
ease  the  great  pains  of  his  gout,  in  the  abstinence  of  two 
days  he  found  his  foot  at  ease  :  but  when  he  began  to  feel 
the  pleasures  of  an  approaching  death,  and  the  delicacies 
of  that  case  he  was  to  inherit  below,  he  would  not  withdraw 
his  foot,  but  went  on  and  finished  his  death :  and  so  did 
Cleanthes.  And  every  wise  man  will  despise  the  little  evils 
of  that  state,  which  indeed  is  the  daughter  of  fear,  but  the 
mother  of  rest,  and  peace,  and  felicity. 

5.  If  God  should  say  to  us.  Cast  thyself  into  the  sea,  (as 
Christ  did  to  St.  Peter,  or  as  God  concerning  Jonas,)  I  have 
provided  for  thee  a  dolphin,  or  a  whale,  or  a  port,  a  safety 
or  a  deliverance,  security  or  a  reward,  were  we  not  in- 
credulous and  pusillanimous  persons,  if  we  should  trem- 
ble to  put  such  a  felicity  into  act,  and  ourselves  into  pos- 
session ?  The  very  duty  of  resignation  and  the  love  of  our 
own  interest  are  good  antidotes  against  fear.  In  forty  or 
fifty  years  we  find  evils  enough,  and  arguments  enough 


FEAR  OF  DEATH.  XOl 

to  make  us  weary  of  this  life  :  and  to  a  good  man  there  are 
very  many  more  reasons  to  be  afraid  of  life  than  death, 
this  having  in  it  less  of  evil  and  more  of  advantage.  And 
it  was  a  rare  wish  of  that  Roman,  that  death  might  come 
only  to  wise  and  excellent  persons,  and  not  to  fools  and 
cowards  ;  that  it  might  not  be  a  sanctuary  for  the  timorous, 
but  the  reward  of  the  virtuous  :  and  indeed  they  only  can 
make  advantage  of  it. 

6.  Make  no  excuses  to  make  thy  desires  of  life  seem 
reasonable  ;  neither  cover  thy  fear  with  pretences,  but 
suppress  it  rather  with  arts  of  severity  and  ingenuity. 
Some  are  not  willing  to  submit  to  God's  sentence  and 
arrest  of  death,  till  they  have  finished  such  a  design,  or 
made  an  end  of  the  last  paragraph  of  their  book,  or  raised 
such  portions  for  their  children,  or  preached  so  many 
sermons,  or  built  their  house,  or  planted  their  orchard,  or 
ordered  their  estate  with  such  advantages.  It  is  well  for 
the  modesty  of  these  men,  that  the  excuse  is  ready  ;  but  if 
it  were  not,  it  is  certain  they  would  search  one  out :  for  an 
idle  man  is  never  ready  to  die,  and  is  glad  of  any  excuse  ; 
and  a  busied  man  hath  always  something  unfinished,  and 
he  is  ready  for  every  thing  but  death.  -And  I  remember 
that  Petronius  brings  in  Eumolpus  composing  verses  in  a 
desperate  storm :  and  being  called  upon  to  shift  for  him- 
self when  the  ship  dashed  upon  the  rock,  crying  out,  to  let 
him  alone,  till  he  had  trimmed  and  finished  his  verse, 
which  was  lame  in  the  hinder  leg:  the  man  either  had  too 
strong  a  desire  to  end  his  verse,  or  too  great  a  desire  not 
to  end  his  life.  But  we  must  know,  God's  times  are  not 
to  be  measured  by  our  circumstances ;  and  what  I  value, 
God  regards  not :  or  if  it  be  valuable  in  the  accounts  of 
men,  yet  God  will  supply  it  with  other  contingencies  of 
his  providence  :  and  if  Epaphroditus  had  died,  when  he 
had  his  great  sickness  St.  Paul  speaks  of,  God  would  have 
secured  the  work  of  the  gospel  without  him  ;  and  he  could 
have  spared  Epaphroditus  as  well  as  St.  Stephen,  and  St. 
Peter  as  well  as  St.  James.  Say  no  more  ;  but,  when  God 
calls,  lay  aside  thy  papers  ;  and  first  dress  thy  soul,  and  then 
dress  thy  hearse. 

Blindness  is  odious,  and  widowhood  is  sad,  and  desti- 
tution is  without  comfort,  and  persecution  is  full  of  trou- 
ble, and  famine  is  intolerable,  and  tears  are  the  sad  ease 
of  a  sadder  heart :  but  these  are  evils  of  our  life,  not  of 
i  2  2  m2 


102  REMEDIES  AGAINST  FEAR  OF  DEATH. 

our  death.  For  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord,  are  so  far 
from  wanting  the  commodities  of  this  life,  that  they  do  not 
want  life  itself. 

After  all  this,  I  do  not  say  it  is  a  sin  to  be  afraid  of 
death :  we  find  the  boldest  spirit,  that  discourses  of  it  with 
confidence,  and  dares  undertake  a  danger  as  big  as  death, 
yet  doth  shrink  at  the  horror  of  it,  when  it  comes  dressed  in 
its  proper  circumstances.  And  Brutus,  who  was  as  bold  a 
Roman  to  undertake  a  noble  action  as  any  was  since  they 
first  reckoned  by  consuls,  yet  when  Furius  came  to  cut  his 
throat,  after  his  defeat  by  Anthony,  he  ran  from  it  like  a 
girl :  and  being  admonished  to  die  constantly,  he  swore  by 
his  life,  that  he  would  shortly  endure  death.  But  what  do 
I  speak  of  such  imperfect  persons  ?  Our  blessed  Lord  was 
pleased  to  legitimate  fear  to  us  by  his  agony  and  prayers 
in  the  garden.  It  is  not  a  sin  to  be  afraid,  but  it  is  a  great 
felicity  to  be  without  fear ;  which  felicity  our  dearest 
Saviour  refused  to  have,  because  it  was  agreeable  to  his 
purposes  to  suffer  any  thing,  that  was  contrary  to  felicity, 
every  thing  but  sin. 

But  when  men  will  by  all  means  avoid  death,  they 
are  like  those,  who  at  any  hand  resolve  to  be  rich.  The 
case  may  happen,  in  which  they  will  blaspheme,  and  dis- 
honour Providence,  or  do  a  bass  action,  or  curse  God  and 
die  :  but,  in  all  cases,  they  die  miserable  and  insnarcd, 
and  in  no  case  do  they  die  the  less  for  it.  Nature  hath  left 
us  the  key  of  the  churchyard,  and  custom  hath  brought 
cemeteries  and  charnel-houses  into  cities  and  churches, 
places  most  frequented,  that  we  might  not  carry  ourselves 
strangely  in  so  certain,  so  expected,  so  ordinary,  so  un- 
avoidable an  accident.  All  reluctancy  or  unwillingness,  to 
obey  the  Divine  decree  is  but  a  snare  to  ourselves,  and  a 
load  to  our  spirits,  and  is  either  an  entire  cause,  or  a  great 
aggravation  of  the  calamity.  Who  did  not  scorn  to  look 
upon  Xerxes,  when  he  caused  three  hundred  stripes  to  be 
given  to  the  sea,  and  sent  a  chartel  of  defiance  against  the 
mountain  Athosi  Who  did  not  scorn  the  proud  vanity  of 
Cyrus,  when  he  took  so  goodly  a  revenge  upon  the  river 
Cydnus  for  his  hard  passage  over  it?  or  did  not  deride  or 
pity  the  Thracians,  for  shooting  arrows  against  heaven 
when  it  thunders?  To  be  angry  with  God,  to  quarrel  with 
the  Divine  Providence,  by  repining  against  an  unalterable, 
a  natural,  an  easy  sentence,  is  an   argument   of  a   huge 


GENERAL  RULES  IJN  SICKNESS.  103 

folly,  and  the  parent  of  a  great  trouble ;  a  man  is  base  and 
foolish  to  no  purpose,  he  throws  away  a  vice  to  his  own 
misery,  and  to  no  advantages  of  case  and  pleasure.  Fear 
keeps  men  in  bondage  all  their  life,  saith  St.  Paul:  and 
patience  makes  him  his  own  man,  and  lord  of  his  own  in- 
terest and  person.  Therefore  possess  yourselves  in  patience, 
with  reason  and  religion,  and  you  shall  die  with  ease. 

If  all  the  parts  of  this  discourse  be  true,  if  they  be  better 
than  dreams,  and  unless  virtue  be  nothing  but  words,  as  a 
grove  is  a  heap  of  trees ;  if  they  be  not  the  fantasms  of 
hypochondriacal  persons,  and  designs  upon  the  interest  of 
men,  and  their  persuasions  to  evil  purposes ;  then  there  is 
no  reason,  but  that  we  should  really  desire  death,  and  ac- 
count it  among  the  good  things  of  God,  and  the  sour  and 
laborious  felicities  of  man.  St.  Paul  understood  it  well, 
when  he  desired  to  be  dissolved  ;  he  well  enough  knew  his 
own  advantages,  and  pursued  them  accordingly.  But  it 
is  certain,  that  he,  that  is  afraid  of  death,  I  mean,  with  a 
violent  and  transporting  fear,  with  a  fear  apt  to  discom- 
pose his  duty  or  his  patience,  that  man  either  loves  this 
world  too  much,  or  dares  not  trust  God  for  the  next. 

SECTION  IX. 

General  Rules  and  Exercises  whereby  our  Sickness  may 

become  safe  and  sanctijied. 

1.  Take  care  that  the  cause  of  thy  sickness  be  such,  as 
may  not  sour  it  in  the  principal  and  original  causes  of  it. 
It  is  a  sad  calamity  to  pass  into  the  house  of  mourning 
through  the  gates  of  intemperance,  by  a  drunken  meeting 
or  the  surfeits  of  a  loathed  and  luxurious  table  ;  for  then  a 
man  suffers  the  pain  of  his  own  folly,  and  he  is  like  a  fool 
smarting  under  the  whip,  which  his  own  viciousness  twisted 
for  his  back  ;  then  a  man  pays  the  price  of  his  sin,  and  hath 
a  pure  and  an  unmingled  sorrow  in  his  suffering;  and  it  can- 
not be  alleviated  by  any  circumstances,  for  the  whole  aflfair 
is  a  mere  process  of  death  and  sorrow.  Sin  is  in  the  head, 
sickness  is  in  the  body,  and  death  and  an  eternity  of  pains 
in  the  tail ;  and  nothing  can  make  this  condition  tolerable, 
unless  the  miracles  of  the  Divine  mercy  will  be  pleased  to 
exchange  the  eternal  anger  for  the  temporal.  True  it  is, 
that,  in  all  sufferings,  the  cause  of  it  makes  it  noble  or 
ignoble,  honour  or  shame,  tolerable  or  intolerable.*  For 
*lPet.  ii.  19.    Heb.  xi.  36.    Matt.  v.  11. 


104  GENERAL  RULES  TO  MAKE 

when  patience  is  assaulted  by  a  ruder  violence,  by  a  blow 
from  heaven  or  earth,  from  a  gracious  God  or  an  unjust 
man,  patience  looks  forth  to  the  doors  which  way  she  may 
escape.  And  if  innocence  or  a  cause  of  religion  keep  the 
first  entrance,  then,  whether  she  escapes  at  the  gates  of 
life  or  death,  there  is  a  good  to  be  received,  greater  than 
the  evils  of  a  sickness  :  but  if  sins  thrust  in  that  sickness, 
and  that  hell  stands  at  the  door,  then  patience  turns  into 
fury,  and  seeing  it  impossible  to  go  forth  with  safety,  rolls  up 
and  down  with  a  circular  and  infinite  revolution,  makes  its 
motion  not  from,  but  upon,  its  own  centre  ;  it  doubles  the 
pain,  and  increases  the  sorrov/,  till  by  its  weight  it  breaks 
the  spirit,  and  bursts  into  the  agonies  of  infinite  and  eternal 
ages.  If  we  had  seen  St.  Polycarp  burning  to  death,  or 
St.  Laurence  roasted  upon  his  gridiron,  or  St.  Ignatius  ex- 
posed to  lions,  or  St.  Sebastian  pierced  with  arrows,  or  St. 
Attains  carried  about  the  theatre  with  scorn  unto  his  death 
for  the  cause  of  Jesus,  for  religion,  for  God  and  a  holy 
conscience  ;  we  should  have  been  in  love  with  flames,  and 
have  thought  the  gridiron  fairer  than  the  spondee,  the  ribs  of 
a  marital  bed  ;  and  we  should  have  chosen  to  converse 
with  those  beasts,  rather  than  those  men  that  brought  those 
beasts  forth  ;  and  estimated  the  arrows  to  be  the  rays  of 
light  brighter  than  the  moon  ;  and  that  disgrace  and  mis- 
taken pageantry  were  a  solemnity  richer  and  more  magni- 
ficent than  Mordecai's  procession  upon  the  king's  horse, 
and  in  robes  of  majesty :  for  so  did  these  holy  men  account 
them ;  they  kissed  their  stakes,  and  hugged  their  deaths, 
and  ran  violently  to  torments,  and  counted  whippings  and 
secular  disgraces  to  be  the  enamel  of  their  persons,  and  the 
ointments  of  their  heads,  and  the  embalming  their  names, 
and  securing  them  for  immortality.  But  to  see  Sejanus 
torn  in  pieces  by  the  people,  or  Nero  crying  or  creeping 
timorously  to  his  death,  when  he  was  condemned  to  die 
moi'e  majoi'um  ;  to  see  Judas  pale  and  trembling,  full  of  an- 
guish, sorrow,  and  despair;  to  observe  the  groanings  and  in- 
tolerable agonies  of  Herod  and  Antiochus,  will  tell  and  de- 
monstrate the  causes  of  patience  and  impatience  to  proceed 
from  the  causes  of  the  suffering :  and  it  is  sin  only  that 
makes  the  cup  bitter  and  deadly.  When  men  by  vomit- 
ing, measure  up  the  drink  they  took  in,  and,  sick  and  sad, 
do  again  taste  their  meat  turned  into  choler  by  intem- 
perance, the  sin  and  its  punishment  are  mingled  so,  that 


SICKNESS  SAFE  AND  HOLY.  105 

shame  covers  the  face,  and  sorrow  puts  a  veil  of  darkness 
upon  the  heart ;  and  we  scarce  pity  a  vile  person,  that  is 
haled  to  execution  for  murder  or  for  treason,  but  we  say 
he  deserves  it,  and  that  every  man  is  concerned  in  it  that 
he  should  die.  If  lust  brought  the  sickness  or  the  shame, 
if  we  truly  suffer  the  rewards  of  our  evil  deeds,  we  must 
thank  ourselves;  that  is,  we  are  fallen  into  an  evil  con- 
dition, and  are  the  sacrifice  of  the  Divine  justice.  But  if  we 
live  holy  lives,  and  if  we  enter  well  in,  we  are  sure  to  pass 
on  safe,  and  to  go  forth  with  advantage,  if  we  list  our- 
selves. 

2.  To  this  relate,  that  we  should  not  counterfeit  sickness: 
for  he  that  is  to  be  careful  of  his  passage  into  a  sickness, 
will  think  himself  concerned  that  he  fall  not  into  it  through 
a  trap-door;  for  so  it  hath  sometimes  happened,  that  such 
counterfeiting  to  light  and  evil  purposes,  hath  ended  in  a 
real  sufferance.  Appian  tells  of  a  Roman  gentleman,  who, 
to  escape  the  proscription  of  the  triumvirate,  fled,  and,  to 
secure  his  privacy,  counterfeited  himself  blind  of  one  eye, 
and  wore  a  plaister  upon  it,  till  beginning  to  be  free  from  the 
malice  of  the  three  prevailing  princes,  he  opened  his  hood, 
but  could  not  open  his  eye,  but  for  ever  lost  the  use  of  it, 
and  with  his  eye  paid  for  his  liberty  and  hypocrisy.  And 
Caelius  counterfeited  the  gout,  and  all  its  circumstances 
and  pains,  its  dressings  and  arts  of  remedy,  and  complaint, 
till  at  last  the  gout  really  entered  and  spoiled  the  pageantry. 
His  arts  of  dissimulation  were  so  witty,  that  they  put  life 
and  motion  into  the  very  image  of  the  disease  :  he  hath 
made  the  very  picture  to  sigh  and  groan. 

It  is  easy  to  tell  upon  the  interest  of  what  virtue  such 
counterfeiting  is  to  be  proved.  But  it  will  be  harder 
to  snatch  the  politics  of  the  world  from  following  that, 
which  they  call  a  canonized  and  authentic  precedent :  and 
David's  counterfeiting  himself  mad  before  the  king  of 
Gath,  to  save  his  life  and  liberty,  will  be  sufficient  to 
entice  men  to  serve  an  end  upon  the  stock  and  charges  of 
so  small  an  irregularity,  not  in  the  matter  of  manners,  but 
in  the  rules  and  decencies  of  natural  or  civil  deportment. 
I  cannot  certainly  tell  what  degrees  of  excuse  David's  ac- 
tion might  put  on.  This  only  :  besides  his  present  neces- 
sity, the  laws,  whose  coercive  or  directive  power  David 
lived  under,  had  less  of  severity,  and  more  of  liberty,  and 
towards   enemies  had  so  little  of  restraint,  and  so  great  a 


106  GENERAL  RULES  TO  MAKE 

power,  that  what  amongst  them  was  a  direct  sin,  if  used  to 
their  brethren  the  sons  of  Jacob,  was  lawful  and  permitted 
to  be  acted  against  enemies.  To  which  also  I  add  this  ge- 
neral caution,  that  the  actions  of  holy  persons  in  Scripture 
are  not  always  good  precedents  to  us  Christians,  who  are  to 
walk  by  a  rule  and  a  greater  strictness,  with  more  simpli- 
city and  heartiness  of  pursuit.  And  amongst  them,  sanc- 
tity and  holy  living  did,  in  very  many  of  its  instances, 
increase  in  new  particulars  of  duty  ;  and  the  prophets  re- 
proved many  things  which  the  law  forbade  not ;  and  taught 
many  duties  which  Moses  prescribed  not :  and  as  the  time 
of  Christ's  approach  came,  so  the  sermons  and  revelations 
too  were  more  evangelical,  and  like  the  patterns,  which 
were  fully  to  be  exhibited  by  the  Son  of  God.  Amongst 
which  it  is  certain,  that  Christian  simplicity  and  godly  sin- 
cerity are  to  be  accounted  :  and  counterfeiting  of  sickness 
is  a  huge  enemy  to  this :  it  is  an  upbraiding  the  Divine 
Providence,  a  jesting  with  fire,  a  playing  with  a  thunder- 
bolt, a  making  the  decrees  of  God  to  serve  the  vicious  or 
secular  ends  of  men  ;  it  is  a  tempting  of  a  judgment,  a 
false  accusation  of  God,  a  forestalling  and  antedating  his 
anger;  it  is  a  cozening  of  men  by  making  God  a  party  in 
the  fraud  :  and,  therefore,  if  the  cozenage  returns  upon  the 
man's  own  head,  he  enters  like  a  fox  into  his  sickness,  and 
perceives  himself  catched  in  a  trap,  or  earthed  in  the  in- 
tolerable dangers  of  the  grave. 

3.  Although  we  must  be  infinitely  careful  to  prevent  it, 
that  sin  does  not  thrust  us  into  a  sickness ;  yet,  when  we 
are  in  the  house  of  sorrow,  we  should  do  well  to  take  phy- 
sic against  sin,  and  suppose  that  it  is  the  cause  of  the  evil; 
if  not  by  way  of  natural  causality  and  proper  effect,  yet  by 
a  moral  influence,  and  by  a  just  demerit.  We  can  easily 
see  when  a  man  hath  got  a  surfeit ;  intemperance  is  as 
plain  as  the  hand-writing  upon  the  wall,  and  easier  to 
be  read  ;  but  covetousness  may  cause  a  fcA^er  as  well  as 
drunkenness  :  and  pride  can  produce  a  falling-sickness  as 
well  as  long  washings  and  dilutions  of  the  brain,  and  in- 
temperate lust :  and  we  find  it  recorded  in  Scripture,  that 
the  contemptuous  and  unprepared  manner  of  receiving  of 
the  holy  sacraments  caused  sickness  and  death  :  and  sa- 
crilege and  vow-breach  in  Ananias  and  Sapphira  made 
them  to  descend  quick  into  their  graves.  Therefore,  when 
sickness  is  upon  us,  let  us  cast  about ;  and,  if  wc  can,  let 


SICKNESS  SAFE  AND  HOLY.  107 

US  find  out  the  cause  of  God's  displeasure  :  that,  it  being 
removed,  we  may  return  into  the  health  and  securities 
of  God's  loving  kindness.  Thus  in  the  three  years' famine, 
David  inquired  of  the  Lord  what  was  the  matter;  and  God 
answered,  "  It  is  for  Saul  and  his  bloody  house  ;"  and  then 
David  expiated  the  guilt,  and  the  people  were  full  again  of 
food  and  blessing.  And  when  Israel  was  smitten  by  the 
Amorites,  Joshua  cast  about,  and  found  out  the  accursed 
thing,  and  cast  it  out ;  and  the  people  after  that  fought 
prosperously.  And  what  God  in  that  case  said  to  Joshua 
he  will  also  verify  to  us  ;  "  I  will  not  be  with  you  any  more 
unless  you  destroy  the  accursed  thing  from  among  you."* 
But  in  pursuance  of  this  we  are  to  observe,  that  although 
in  case  of  loud  and  clamorous  sins,  the  discovery  is  easy 
and  the  remedy  not  difficult ;  yet  because  Christianity  is 
a  nice  thing,  and  religion  is  as  pure  as  the  sun,  and  the 
soul  of  man  is  apt  to  be  troubled  from  more  principles  than 
the  intricate  and  curiously-composed  body  in  its  innumer- 
able parts,  it  will  often  happen,  that  if  we  go  to  inquire  in- 
to the  particular,  we  shall  never  find  it  out;  and  we  may 
suspect  drunkenness,  when  it  may  be  also  a  morose  delec- 
tation in  unclean  thoughts,  or  covetousness,  or  oppression, 
or  a  crafty  invasion  of  my  neighbour's  rights,  or  my  want 
of  charity,  or  my  judging  unjustly  in  my  own  cause,  or  my 
censuring  my  neighbours,  or  a  secret  pride,  or  a  base  hy- 
pocrisy, or  the  pursuance  of  little  ends  with  violence  and 
passion,  that  may  have  procured  the  present  messenger  of 
death.  Therefore  ask  no  more  after  any  one,  but  heartily 
endeavour  to  reform  all ;  "  Sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing 
happen  :"  for  a  single  search  or  accusation  may  be  the  de- 
sign of  an  imperfect  repentance  ;  but  no  man  does  heartily 
return  to  God  but  he  that  decrees  against  every  irregula- 
rity ;  and  then  only  we  can  be  restored  to  health  or  life, 
when  we  have  taken  away  the  causes  of  sickness  and  ac- 
cursed death. 

4.  He  that  means  to  have  his  sickness  turn  into  safety 
and  life,  into  health  and  virtue,  must  make  religion  the  em- 
ployment of  his  sickness,  and  prayer  the  employment  of 
his  religion.  For  there  are  certain  compendiums  or  ab- 
breviatures and  shortenings  of  religion,  fitted  to  several 
states.  They  that  first  gave  up  their  names  to  Christ,  and 
that  turned  from  Paganism  to  Christianity,  had  an  abbre- 

*  Josh.  vij.  12. 


108  GENERAL  RULES  TO  MAKE 

viature  fitted  for  them;  they  were- to  renounce  their  false 
worshippings,  and  give  up  their  belief,  and  vow  their  obe- 
dience unto  Christ ;  and  in  the  very  profession  of  this  they 
were  forgiven  in  baptism.  For  God  hastens  to  snatch  them 
from  the  power  of  the  devil,  and  therefore  shortens  the  pas- 
sage, and  secures  the  estate.  In  the  case  of  poverty,  God 
hath  reduced  this  duty  of  man  to  an  abbreviature  of  those 
few  graces  which  they  can  exercise ;  such  as  are  patience, 
contentedness,  truth,  and  diligence  ;  and  the  rest  he  accepts 
in  good  will,  and  the  charities  of  the  soul,  in  prayers,  and 
the  actions  of  a  cheap  religion.  And  to  most  men  charity 
is  also  an  abbreviature.  And  as  the  love  of  God  shortens 
the  way  to  the  purchase  of  all  virtues :  so  the  expression 
of  this  to  the  poor  goes  a  huge  way  in  the  requisites  and 
towards  the  consummation  of  an  excellent  religion.  And 
martyrdom  is  another  abbreviature ;  and  so  is  every  act  of 
an  excellent  and  heroical  virtue.  But  when  we  are  fallen 
into  the  state  of  sickness,  and  that  our  understanding  it 
weak  and  troubled,  our  bodies  sick  and  useless,  our  pas 
sions  turned  into  fear,  and  the  whole  state  into  suffering, 
God,  in  compliance  with  man's  infirmity,  hath  also  turned 
our  religion  into  such  a  duty,  which  a  sick  man  can  do 
most  passionately,  and  a  sad  man  and  a  timorous  man  per- 
form effectually,  and  a  dying  man  can  do  to  many  purposes 
of  pardon  and  mercy  ;  and  that  is  prayer.  For  although  a 
sick  man  is  bound  to  do  many  acts  of  virtue  of  several 
kinds,  yet  the  most  of  them  are  to  be  done  in  the  way  of 
prayer.  Prayer  is  not  only  the  religion  that  is  proper  to  a 
sick  man's  condition,  but  it  is  the  manner  of  doing  other 
graces  which  is  then  left,  and  in  his  power.  For  thus  the 
sick  man  is  to  do  his  repentance  and  his  mortifications,  his 
temperance  and  his  chastity,  by  a  fiction  of  imagination 
bringing  the  offers  of  the  virtue  to  the  spirit,  and  making 
an  action  or  election  :  and  so  our  prayers  are  a  direct  act  of 
chastity,  Avhen  they  are  made  in  the  matter  of  that  grace : 
just  as  repentance  for  our  cruelty  is  an  act  of  the  grace  of 
mercy ;  and  repentance  for  uncleanness  is  an  act  of  chas- 
tity, is  a  means  of  its  purchase,  an  act  in  order  to  the 
habit.  And  though  such  acts  of  virtue,  which  are  only  in 
the  way  of  prayer,  are  ineffective  to  the  entire  purchase, 
and  of  themselves  cannot  change  the  vice  into  virtue  ;  yet 
they  are  good  renewings  of  the  grace,  and  proper  exercise 
of  a  habit  already  gotten. 


SICKNKSS  SAFE  Ax\D  HOLY.  XOg 

The  purpose  of  this  discourse  is,  to  represent  the  excel- 
lency of"  prayer,  and  its  proper  advantaoes,  which  it  hath 
in  the  time  of  sickness.  For  besides  that  it  moves  God  to 
pity,  piercini^  the  clouds,  and  making  the  heavens,  like  a 
pricked  eye,  to  weep  over  us,  and  refresh  us  with  showers 
of  pity  :  it  also  doth  the  work  of  the  soul,  and  expresses 
the  virtue  of  his  whole  life  in  effigy,  in  pictures  and  lively 
reprcsentments,  so  j)rcparing  it  for  a  never-ceasing  crown, 
by  renewing  the  actions  in  the  continuation  of  a  never-ceas- 
ing, a  never-hindered  affection.  Prayer  speaks  to  God, 
when  the  tongue  is  stiffened  with  the  approachings  of  death: 
prayer  can  dwell  in  the  heart,  and  be  signified  by  the  hand 
or  eye,  by  a  thought  or  a  groan  :  prayer,  of  all  the  actions 
of  religion,  is  the  last  alive,  and  it  serves  God  without  cir- 
cumstances, and  exercises  material  graces  by  abstraction 
from  matter  and  separation,  and  makes  them  to  be  spirit- 
ual ;  and  therefore  best  dresses  our  bodies  for  funeral  or 
recovery,  for  the  mercies  of  restitution  or  the  mercies  of 
the  grave. 

5.  In  every  sickness,  whether  it  will,  or  will  not  be  so 
in  nature  and  in  the  event,  yet  in  thy  spirit  and  prepara- 
tions resolve  upon  it,  and  treat  thyself  accordingly,  as  if  it 
were  a  sickness  unto  death.  For  many  men  support  their 
unequal  courages  by  flattery  and  false  hopes ;  and  because 
sicker  men  have  recovered,  believe  that  they  shall  do  so  : 
but  therefore  they  neglect  to  adorn  their  souls,  or  set  the 
house  in  order  ;  besides  the  temporal  inconveniences  that 
often  happen  by  such  persuasions,  and  putting  off"  the  evil 
day,  such  as  are,  dying  intestate,  leaving  estates  entangled, 
and  some  relatives  unprovided  for,  they  suffer  infinitely 
in  the  interest  and  affairs  of  their  soul ;  they  die  carelessly 
and  surprised,  their  burdens  on,  and  their  scruples  unre- 
moved,  and  their  cases  of  conscience  not  determined,  and 
like  a  sheep,  without  any  care  taken  concerning  their  pre- 
cious souls.  Some  men  will  never  believe  that  a  villain 
will  betray  them,  though  they  receive  often  advices  from 
suspicious  persons  and  likely  accidents,  till  they  are  enter- 
ed into  the  snare  :  and  then  they  believe  it  when  they  feel 
it,  and  when  they  cannot  return  ;  but  so  the  treason  enter- 
ed, and  the  man  was  betrayed  by  his  own  folly,  placing 
the  snare  in  the  regions  and  advantages  of  opportunity. 
This  evil  looks  like  boldness  and  a  confident  spirit,  but  it 
is  the  greatest  timorousness  and  cowardice  in  the  w^orld. 
k  2N 


110  GENEPxAL  RULES  TO  MAKE 

They  arc  so  fearful  to  die,  that  tlioy  dare  not  look  upon  it 
as  possible;  and  think  that  the  niakino-  of  a  will  is  a  mor- 
tal sii^in,  and  sending  for  a  spiritual  man  an  irrecoverable 
disease ;  and  they  are  so  afraid,  lest  they  should  think  and 
believe  now  they  must  die,  that  they  will  not  take  care  that 
it  may  not  be  evil,  in  case  they  should.  So  did  the  eastern 
slaves  drink  wine,  and  wrapped  their  heads  in  a  veil,  that 
they  might  die  without  sense  or  sorrow,  and  wink  hard, 
that  they  might  sleep  the  easier.  In  pursuance  of  this  rule, 
let  a  man  consider,  that  whatsoever  nuist  be  done  in  sick- 
ness ought  to  be  done  in  health ;  only  let  him  observe, 
that  his  sickness,  as  a  good  monitor,  chastises  his  neglect 
of  duty,  and  forces  him  to  live  as  he  always  should,  and 
then  all  these  solemnities  and  dressings  for  death  are  no- 
thing else  but  the  part  of  a  religious  life,  which  he  ought 
to  have  exercised  all  his  days?  and  if  those  circumstances 
can  atlright  him,  let  him  please  his  fancy  by  this  truth,  that 
then  he  does  but  begin  to  live.  But  it  will  be  a  huge  folly, 
if  he  shall  think  that  contession  of  his  sins  Avill  kill  him: 
or  receiving  the  holy  sacrament  will  hasten  his  agony,  oi 
the  priest  shall  undo  all  the  hopeful  language  and  promises 
of  his  physician.  Assure  thyself,  thou  canst  not  die  the 
sooner  ;  but,  by  such  addresses,  thou  mayest  die  much  the 
better. 

6.  Let  the  sick  person  be  infinitely  careful,  that  he  do 
not  fall  into  a  state  of  death  upon  a  new  account :  that  is, 
at  no  hand  commit  a  deliberate  sin,  or  retain  any  aflection 
to  the  old  ,  for  in  both  cases;  he  falls  into  the  evils  of  a 
surprise  and  the  horrors  of  a  sudden  death  is  but  a  sudden 
joy,  if  it  takes  a  man  in  the  state  and  exercises  of  virtue : 
ami  it  is  only  then  an  evil,  when  it  iinds  a  man  unready. 
They  were  sad  departures,  when  Tigilinus  Cornelius  Gal- 
lus,  the  Pranor ;  Lewis  the  son  of  Gonzaga,  Duke  of 
Mantua :  Ladislaus,  King  of  Naples  ;  Speusippus ;  Gia- 
chettus  of  Geneva ;  and  one  of  the  popes,  died  in  the  for- 
bidden embraces  of  abused  women :  or  if  Job  had  cursed 
God  and  so  died  :  or  when  a  man  sits  down  in  despair, 
and  in  the  accusation  and  calumny  of  the  Divine  mercy; 
they  make  their  night  sad,  and  stormy,  and  eternal.  When 
Ilerod  began  to  stink  with  the  shamefuL  torment  of  his 
bovxels,  and  felt  the  grave  open  under  him,  he  imprisoned 
the  nobles  of  his  kingdom,  and  commanded  his  sister,  that 
thev  sliould  be  a  sacriticc  to  his  departing  ghost.  This  was 


SICILNESS  SAFE  AND  HOLY.  HI 

an  egress  fit  only  for  such  persons,  who  meant  to  dwell 
with  devils  to  et(  rnal  ;i;ros  ;  and  that  rnan  is  hujroly  in  love 
with  sin,  who  cannot  forbear  in  the  week  of  the  assizes,  and 
when  himself  stood  at  the  l>ar  of  scrutiny,  and  prepared  for 
his  final  never-to-be  reversed  sentence.  lie  dies  suddenly 
to  the  worse  sense  and  event  of  sudden  death,  who  so  man- 
ages his  sickness  that  even  that  state  shall  not  be  innocent, 
but  that  he  is  surprised  in  the  guilt  of  a  new  account.  It 
is  a  sign  of  a  reprobate  spirit,  aiid  an  habitual,  prevailing, 
ruling  sin,  which  exacts  obedience,  when  the  judgment 
looks  him  in  the  face.  Al  least  go  to  God  with  the  inno- 
cence and  fair  deportment  of  thy  person  in  the  last  scene  of 
thy  life,  that  when  thy  soul  breaks  into  the  state  of  sepa- 
ration, it  may  carry  the  relishes  of  religion  and  sobriety  to 
the  places  of  its  abode  and  sentence. 

7.  When  these  things  are  taken  care  for,  let  the  sick  man 
so  order  his  affairs,  that  he  have  but  very  little  conversation 
with  the  world,  but  wholly  (as  he  can)  attend  to  religion, 
and  antedate  his  conversation  in  heaven,  always  having  in- 
tercourse with  God  and  still  conversing  with  the  holy 
Jesus,  kissing  his  wounds,  admiring  his  goodness,  begging 
his  mercy,  feeding  on  him  with  faith,  and  drinking  his 
blood  :  to  which  purpose  it  were  very  fit  (if  all  circum- 
stances be  answerable)  that  the  narrative  of  the  passion  of 
Christ  be  read  or  discoursed  to  him  at  length,  or  in  brief, 
according  to  the  style  of  the  four  gospels.  But,  in  all 
things,  let  his  care  and  society,  be  as  little  secular  as  is 
possible. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OF    THE    PRACTICE    OF    THE    GRACES    PROPER  TO    THE    STATE 
OF  SICKNESS,  WHICH  A  SICK  MAX  MAY  PRACTICE  ALONE. 

SECTION  I. 
Of  the  Practice  of  Patience 
Now  we  suppose  the  rnan  entering  upon  his  scene  of  sor- 
rows, and  passive  graces.  It  may  be,  he  went  yesterday 
to  a  wedding,  merry  and  brisk,  and  there  he  felt  his  sen- 
tence, that  he  must  return  home  and  die  (for  men  very  com- 
monly enter  into  the  snare  singing,  and  consider  not  whi- 
ther their  fate  leads  them :)  nor  feared,  that  then  the  angel 
was  to  strike  his  stroke,  till  his  knees  kissed  the  earth 


112         THE  PRACTICE  OF  THE  GRACE 

and  his  head  trembled  with  the  weight  of  the  rod,  which 
God  pat  into  the  hand  of  an  exterminating-  angel.  But 
whatsoever  the  ingress  was,  when  the  man  feels  his  blood 
boil,  or  his  bones  weary,  or  his  flesh  diseased  with  a  load 
of  a  dispersed  and  disordered  humour,  or  his  head  to  ache, 
or  his  faculties  discomposed,  then  he  must  consider,  that 
all  those  discourses  he  hath  heard,  concerning  patience  and 
resignation,  and  conformity  to  Christ's  sufferings,  and  the 
melancholy  lectures  of  the  cross,  must,  all  of  them,  now  be 
reduced  to  practice,  and  pass  from  an  ineffective  contem- 
plation to  such  an  exercise  as  will  really  try,  whether 
we  were  true  disciples  of  the  cross,  or  only  believed  the 
doctrines  of  religion  when  we  were  at  ease,  and  that  they 
never  passed  through  the  ear  to  the  heart,  and  dwelt  not  in 
our  spirits.  But  every  man  should  consider  God  does  no- 
thing in  vain  ;  that  he  would  not,  to  no  purpose,  send  us 
preachers,  and  give  us  rules,  and  furnish  us  with  discourse, 
and  lend  us  books,  and  provide  sermons,  and  make  exam- 
ples, and  promise  his  Spirit,  and  describe  the  blessedness 
of  holy  sufferings,  and  prepare  us  with  daily  alarms,  if  he 
did  not  really  purpose  to  order  our  affairs,  so  that  we  should 
need  all  this,  and  use  it  all.  There  were  no  such  thing  as 
the  grace  of  patience,  if  we  were  not  to  feel  a  sickness,  or 
enter  into  a  state  of  sufferings  :  whither,  when  we  are  en- 
tered, we  are  to  practice  by  the  following  rules. 

The  Practice  and  Acts  of  Patience,  by  ivai/  of  Rule. 
1.  At  the  first  address  and  presence  of  sickness,  stand 
still  and  arrest  thy  spirit,  that  it  may,  without  amazement 
or  affright,  consider,  that  this  was  that  thou  lookedst  for, 
and  wert  always  certain  should  happen  ;  and  that  now  thou 
art  to  enter  into  the  actions  of  a  new  religion,  the  agony 
of  a  strange  constitution  ;  but  at  no  hand  sufler  thy  spirits 
to  be  dispersed  with  fear,  or  v/ildness  of  thought,  but  stay 
their  looseness  and  dispersion  by  a  serious  consideration 
of  the  present  and  future  employment.  For  so  doth  the 
Libyan  lion,  spying  the  fierce  huntsman,  he  first  beats 
himself  with  the  strokes  of  his  tail,  and  curls  up  his  spirits, 
making  them  strong  with  union  and  recollection,  till,  being 
struck  with  a  Mauritanian  spear,  he  rushes  forth  into  his 
defence  and  noblest  contention;  and  either  'scapes  into 
the  secrets  of  his  own  dwelling,  or  else  dies  the  bravest  of 
the   forest.     Every  man,  when    shot   with   an   arrow  from 


OF  PATIENCE  IN  SICKNESS.  113 

God's  quiver,  must  then  draw  in  all  the  auxiliaries  of  rea- 
son, and  know,  that  then  is  the  time  to  try  his  strength, 
and  to  reduce  the  words  of  his  religion  into  action,  and 
consider,  that  if  he  behaves  himself  weakly  and  timorously 
he  suHers  never  the  less  of  sickness ;  but  if  he  returns  to 
health,  he  carries  along  with  him  the  mark  of  a  coward 
and  a  fool ;  and  if  he  descends  into  his  grave,  he  enters 
into  the  state  of  the  faithless  and  unbelievers.  Let  him 
set  his  heart  firm  upon  this  resolution ;  "  I  must  bear  it  in- 
evitably, and  I  will,  by  God's  grace,  do  it  nobly." 

2.  Bear  in  thy  sickness  all  along  the  same  thoughts, 
propositions,  and  discourses,  concerning  thy  person,  thy 
life  and  death,  thy  soul  and  religion,  which  thou  hadst  in 
the  best  days  of  thy  health :  and  when  thou  didst  discourse 
wisely  concerning  things  spiritual.  For  it  is  to  be  sup- 
posed (and  if  it  be  no.t  yet  done,  let  this  rule  remind  thee 
of  it,  and  direct  thee)  that  thou  hast  cast  about  in  thy 
health  and  considered  concerning  thy  change  and  the  evil 
day,  that  thou  must  be  sick  and  die,  that  thou  must  need 
a  comforter,  and  that  it  was  certain,  thou  shouldst  fall  into 
a  state,  in  which  all  the  cords  of  thy  anchor  should  be 
stretched,  and  the  very  rock  and  foundation  of  faith  should 
be  attempted ;  and  whatsoever  fancies  may  disturb  you,  or 
whatsoever  weaknesses  may  invade  you,  yet  consider, 
when  you  were  better  able  to  judge  and  govern  the  acci- 
dents of  your  life,  you  concluded  it  necessary  to  trust  in 
God,  and  possess  your  souls  with  patience.  Think  of 
things,  as  they  think  that  stand  by  you,  and  as  you  did, 
when  you  stood  by  others ;  that  it  is  a  blessed  thing  to  be 
patient ;  that  a  quietness  of  spirit  hath  a  certain  reward  ; 
tliat  still  there  is  infinite  truth  and  reality  in  the  promises 
of  the  gospel :  that  still  thou  art  in  the  care  of  God,  in  the 
condition  of  a  son,  and  working  out  thy  salvation  with 
labour  and  pain,  with  fear  and  trembling;  that  now  the 
sun  is  under  a  cloud,  but  it  still  sends  forth  the  same  influ- 
ence ;  and  be  sure  to  make  no  new  principles  upon  the 
stock  of  a  quick  and  impatient  sense,  or  too  busy  an  appre- 
hension ;  keep  your  old  principles,  and,  upon  their  stock, 
discourse  and  practise  on  towards  your  conclusion. 

3.  Resolve  to  bear  your  sickness  like  a  child,  that  is, 
without  considering  the  evils  and  the  pains,  the  sorrows 
and  the  danger;  but  go  straight  forward,  and  let  thy 
thoughts  cast  about  for  nothing,  but  how  to  make  advan- 

k2  2n 


114         THE  PRACTICE  OF  THE  GRACE 

tages  of  it  by  the  instrument  of  religion.  He  that  from  a 
high  tower  looks  down  upon  the  precipice,  and  measures 
the  space  through  which  he  must  descend,  and  considers 
what  a  huge  fall  lie  shall  have,  shall  feel  more  by  the  hor- 
ror of  it,  than  by  the  last  dash  on  the  pavement;  and  he 
that  tells  his  groans  and  numbers  his  sighs,  and  reckons 
one  for  every  gripe  of  his  belly  or  throb  of  his  distempered 
pulse,  will  make  an  artificial  sickness  greater  than  the  na- 
tural. And  if  thou  beest  ashamed  that  a  child  should  bear 
an  evil  better  than  thou,  then  take  this  instrument  and 
allay  thy  spirit  with  it ;  reflect  not  upon  thy  evil,  but  con- 
trive as  much  as  you  can  for  duty,  and,  in  all  the  rest,  in- 
consideration  will  ease  your  pain. 

4.  If  thou  fearest  thou  shalt  need,  observe  and  draw  to- 
gether all  such  thmgs  as  are  apt  to  charm  thy  spirit,  and 
ease  thy  fancy  in  the  sufferance.  It  is  the  counsel  of  So- 
crates :  "  It  is  (said  he)  a  great  danger,  and  you  must,  by 
discourse  and  arts  of  reasoning,  enchant  it  into  slumber 
and  some  rest."  It  may  be,  thou  wert  moved  much  to  see 
a  person  of  honour  to  die  untimely  ;  or  thou  didst  love  the 
religion  of  that  death-bed,  and  it  was  dressed  up  in  circum- 
stances fitted  to  thy  needs,  and  hit  thee  on  that  part  where 
thou  wert  most  sensible  :  or  some  little  saying  in  a  sermon 
or  passage  of  a  book  was  chosen  and  singled  out  by  a  pe- 
culiar apprehension,  and  made  consent  lodge  awhile  in  thy 
spirit,  even  then,  when  thou  didst  place  death  in  thy 
meditation,  and  didst  view  it  in  all  its  dress  of  fancy. 
Whatsoever  that  was,  which  at  any  time  did  please  thee 
in  thy  most  passionate  and  fantastic  part,  let  not  that  go, 
but  bring  it  home  at  that  time  especially  :  because  when 
thou  art  in  thy  weakness,  such  little  things  will  easier  move 
thee  than  a  more  severe  discourse  and  a  better  reason. 
For  a  sick  man  is  like  a  scrupulous :  his  case  is  gone  be- 
yond the  cure  of  arguments,  and  it  is  a  trouble  that  can 
only  be  helped  by  chance,  or  a  lucky  saying;  and  Ludo- 
vico  Corbinelli  was  moved  at  the  death  of  Henry  the 
Second,  more  than  if  he  had  read  the  saddest  elegy  of  all 
the  unfortunate  princes  in  Christendom,  or  all  the  sad 
sayings  of  Scripture,  or  the  threnes  of  the  funeral  pro- 
phets. I  deny  not  but  this  course  is  most  proper  to  weak 
persons ;  but  it  is  a  state  of  weakness,  for  which  we  are 
now  providing  remedies  and  instruction;  a  strong  man  will 
not  need  it ;  but  when  our  sickness  hath  rendered  us  weak 


OF  PATIE.N'CE  IN  SICKNESS.  115 

in  all  senses,  it  is  not  good  to  refuse  a  remedy  because  it 
supposes  us  to  be  sick.  But  then,  if  to  the  catalogue  of 
weak  persons  we  add  all  those  who  are  ruled  by  fancy,  we 
shall  find  that  many  persons  in  their  health,  and  more  in 
their  sickness,  are  under  the  dominion  of  fancy,  and  apt 
to  be  helped  by  those  little  things,  which  themselves  have 
found  fitted  to  their  apprehension,  and  which  no  other  man 
can  minister  to  their  needs,  unless  by  chance,  or  in  a  heap 
of  other  things.  But  therefore  every  man  should  remember 
by  what  instruments  he  was  at  any  time  much  moved,  and 
try  them  u{)on  his  spirit  in  the  day  of  his  calamity. 

5.  Do  not  choose  the  kind  of  thy  sickness,  or  the  man- 
ner of  thy  death  ;  but  let  it  be  what  God  please,  so  it  be  no 
greater  than  thy  spirit  or  thy  patience;  and  for  that  you 
are  to  rely  upon  the  promise  of  God,  and  to  secure  thyself 
by  prayer  and  industry;  but  in  all  things  else  let  God  be 
thy  chooser,  and  let  it  be  thy  work  to  submit  indifferently, 
and  attend  thy  duty.  It  is  lawful  to  beg  of  God  that  thy 
sickness  may  not  be  sharp  or  noisome,  infectious  or  unusual, 
because  these  are  circumstances  of  evil,  which  are  also 
proper  instruments  of  temptation ;  and  though  it  may  well 
concern  the  prudence  of  thy  religion  to  fear  thyself,  and 
keep  thee  from  violent  temptations,  who  hast  so  often  fallen 
in  little  ones :  yet,  even  in  these  things,  be  sure  to  keep 
some  degrees  of  indifferency  ;  that  is,  if  God  will  not  be 
entreated  to  ease  thee,  or  to  change  thy  trial,  then  be  im- 
portunate that  thy  spirit  and  its  interest  be  secured,  and 
let  him  do  what  seemeth  good  in  his  eyes.  But  as,  in  the 
degrees  of  sickness,  thou  art  to  submit  to  God,  so  in  the 
kind  of  it  (supposing  equal  degrees)  thou  art  to  be  alto- 
gether incurious,  whether  God  call  thee  by  a  consumption  or 
an  asthma,  by  a  dropsy  or  a  palsy,  by  a  fever  in  thy  hu- 
mours, or  a  fever  in  thy  spirits;  because  all  such  nicety  of 
choice  is  nothing  but  a  colour  to  a  legitimate  impatience, 
and  to  make  an  excuse  to  murmur  privately,  and  for  cir- 
cumstances, when  in  the  sum  of  affairs  we  durst  not  own 
impatience.  I  have  known  some  persons  vehemently 
wish  that  they  might  die  of  a  consumption;  and  some  of 
these  had  a  plot  upon  heaven,  and  hoped  by  that  means 
to  secure  it  after  a  careless  life  ;  as  thinking  a  linger- 
ing sickness  would  certainly  infer  a  lingering  and  a 
protracted  repentance ;  and,  by  that  means,  they  thought 
they  should  be  safest ;  others  of  them  dreamed  it  would 


116  THE  PRACTICE  OF  THE  GRACE 

be  an  easier  death ;  and  have  found  themselves  deceived, 
and  their  patience  hath  been  tired  with  a  weary  spirit  and 
a  useless  body,  by  often  conversing  with  healthful  persons 
and  vigorous  neighbours,  by  uneasiness  of  the  flesh  and 
the  sharpness  of  their  bones,  by  want  of  spirits  and  a  dying 
life  :  and,  in  conclusion,  have  been  directly  debauched  by 
peevishness  and  a  fretful  sickness  ;  and  these  men  had  bet- 
ter have  left  it  to  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  ;  for  they 
both  are  infinite. 

6.  Be  patient  in  the  desires  of  religion  ;  and  take  care 
that  the  forwardness  of  exterior  actions  do  not  discompose 
thy  spirit ;  while  thou  fearest,  that  by  less  serving  God  in 
thy  disability,  thou  runnest  backward  in  the  accounts  of 
pardon  and  the  favour  of  God.  Be  content,  that  the  time 
which  was  formerly  spent  in  prayer,  be  now  spent  in  vomit- 
ing, and  carefulness,  and  attendances :  since  God  hath 
pleased  it  should  be  so,  it  does  not  become  us  to  think  hard 
thoughts  concerning  it.  Do  not  think  that  God  is  only  to 
be  found  in  a  great  prayer,  or  a  solemn  oflice  :  he  is  moved 
by  a  sigh,  by  a  groan,  by  an  act  of  love  ;  and,  therefore, 
when  your  pain  is  great  and  pungent,  lay  all  your  strength 
upon  it,  to  bear  it  patiently  :  when  the  evil  is  something 
more  tolerable,  let  your  mind  think  some  pious,  though  short, 
meditation  :  let  it  not  be  very  busy,  and  full  of  attention ; 
for  that  will  be  but  a  new  temptation  to  your  patience,  and 
render  your  religion  tedious  and  hateful.  But  record  your 
desires,  and  present  yourself  to  God  by  general  acts  of  will 
and  understanding,  and  by  habitual  remembrances  of  your 
former  vigorousness,  and  by  verification  of  the  same  grace, 
rather  than  proper  exercises.  If  you  can  do  more,  do  it ; 
but  if  you  cannot,  let  it  not  become  a  scruple  to  thee.  We 
must  not  think  man  is  tied  to  the  forms  of  health,  or  that 
he  who  swoons  or  faints,  is  obliged  to  his  usual  forms  and 
hours  of  prayer:  if  we  cannot  labour,  yet  let  us  love. 
Nothing  can  hinder  us  from  that,  but  our  own  uncharit- 
ableness. 

7.  Be  obedient  to  thy  physician  in  those  things  that 
concern  him,  if  he  be  a  person  fit  to  minister  unto  thee. 
God  is  he  only  that  needs  no  help,  and  God  hath  created 
the  physician  for  thine  ;  therefore  use  him  temperately, 
without  violent  confidences  ;  and  sweetly,  without  uncivil 
distrustings,  or  refusing  his  prescription  upon  humours  or 
impotent  fear.     A  man  may  refuse  to  have  his  arm  or  leg 


OF  PATIENCE  IN  SICKNESS. 


117 


cut  off',  or  to  suffer  the  pains  of  Marius's  incision  :  and  if 
he  believes  that  to  die  is  the  less  evil,  he  may  compose 
himself  to  it,  without  hazarding  his  patience,  or  introduc- 
ing- that  which  he  thinks  a  worse  evil ;  but  that,  which,  in 
this  article,  is  to  be  reproved  and  avoided,  is,  that  some 
men  will  choose  to  die  out  of  fear  of  death,  and  send  for 
physicians,  and  do  what  themselves  list,  and  call  for 
counsel  and  follow  none.  When  there  is  reason  they 
should  decline  him,  it  is  not  to  be  accounted  to  the  stock 
of  a  sin  ;  but  where  there  is  no  just  cause,  there  is  a  direct 
impatience. 

Hither  is  to  be  reduced,  that  we  be  not  too  confident  of 
the  physician,  or  drain  our  hopes  of  recovery  from  the 
fountain  through  so  imperfect  channels ;  laying  the  wells 
of  God  dry,  and  digging  to  ourselves  broken  cisterns. 
Physicians  are  the  ministers  of  God's  mercies  and  provi- 
dence, in  the  matter  of  health  and  ease,  of  restitution  or 
death ;  and  when  God  shall  enable  their  judgments,  and 
direct  their  counsels,  and  prosper  their  medicines,  they 
shall  do  thee  good,  for  which  you  must  give  God  thanks, 
and  to  the  physician  the  honour  of  a  blessed  instrument. 
But  this  cannot  always  be  done  ;  and  Lucius  Cornelius, 
the  lieutenant  in  Portugal  under  Fabius  the  consul,  boasted 
in  the  inscription  of  his  monument,  that  he  had  lived  a 
healthful  and  vcgete  age  till  his  last  sickness,  but  then 
complained  he  was  forsaken  by  his  physician,  and  railed 
upon  ^sculapius,  for  not  accepting  his  vow  and  passionate 
desire  of  preserving  his  life  longer ;  and  all  the  effect  of 
that  impatience  and  folly  was,  that  it  is  recorded  to  follow- 
ing ages,  that  he  died  without  reason  and  without  religion. 
But  it  was  a  sad  sight  to  see  the  favour  of  all  France  con- 
fined to  a  physician  and  a  barber,  and  the  king  (Louis  XL) 
to  be  so  much  their  servant,  that  he  should  acknowledge 
and  own  his  life  from  them,  and  all  his  ease  to  their  gentle 
dressing  of  his  gout  and  friendly  ministries;  for  the  king 
thought  himself  undone  and  robbed,  if  he  should  die  ;  his 
portion  here  was  fair ;  and  he  was  loth  to  exchange  his  pos- 
session for  the  interest  of  a  bigger  hope. 

8.  Treat  thy  nurses  and  servants  sweetly,  and  as  it  be- 
comes an  obliged  and  a  necessitous  person.  Remember 
that  thou  art  very  troublesome  to  them  ;  that  they  trouble 
not  thee  willingly  :  that  they  strive  to  do  thee  ease  and 
benefit,  that  they  wish  it,  and  sigh  and  pray  for  it,  and  are 


118        THE  PRACTICE  OF  THE  GRACE 

glad,  if  thou  likest  their  attendance ;  that  whatsoever  is 
amiss  is  thy  disease,  and  the  uneasiness  of  thy  head  or 
thy  side,  thy  distemper  or  thy  disaffections  ;  and  it  will  be 
an  unhandsome  injustice  to  be  troublesome  to  them,  be- 
cause thou  art  so  to  thyself:  to  make  them  feel  a  part  of 
thy  sorrows,  that  thou  mayest  not  bear  them  alone ;  evilly 
to  requite  their  care  by  thy  too  curious  and  impatient 
wrangling  and  fretful  spirit.  That  tenderness  is  vicious 
and  unnatural,  that  shrieks  out  under  the  weight  of  a 
gentle  cataplasm ;  and  he  will  ill  comply  with  God's  rod, 
that  cannot  endure  his  friend's  greatest  kindness  :  and  he 
will  be  very  angry  (if  he  durst)  with  God's  smiting  him, 
that  is  peevish  with  his  servants  that  go  about  to  ease  him. 

9.  Let  not  the  smart  of  your  sickness  make  you  to  call 
violently  for  death  ;  you  are  not  patient,  unless  you  be 
content  to  live  ;  God  hath  wisely  ordered  that  we  may  be 
the  better  reconciled  with  death,  because  it  is  the  period 
of  many  calamities  ;  but  wherever  the  general  hath  placed 
thee,  stir  not  from  thy  station,  until  thou  beest  called  off, 
but  abide  so,  that  death  may  come  to  thee  by  the  design  of 
him,  who  intends  it  to  be  thy  advantage.  God  hath  made 
sufferance  to  be  thy  work :  and  do  not  impatiently  long 
for  evening,  lest,  at  night,  thou  findest  the  reward  of  him 
tliat  was  weary  of  his  work ;  for  he  that  is  weary  before 
his  time  is  an  unprofitable  servant,  and  is  either  idle  or 
diseased. 

10.  That  which  remains  in  the  practice  of  this  grace  is, 
that  the  sick  man  should  do  acts  of  patience  by  way  of 
prayer  and  ejaculations ;  in  which  he  may  serve  himself  of 
the  following  collection. 

SECTION  II. 

Acts  of  Patience  by  way  of  Prayer  and  Ejaculation, 

I  WILL  seek  unto  God,  unto  God  v^ill  I  commit  my  cause, 
which  doth  great  things  and  unsearchable,  marvellous  things 
without  number.     Job,  v.  8,  9.  11.  19 — 26. 

To  set  up  on  high  those  that  be  low,  that  those  which 
mourn,  may  be  exalted  to  safety. 

So  the  poor  have  hope,  and  iniquity  stoppeth  her  mouth. 

Behold,  happy  is  the  man  whom  God  correcteth  ;  there- 
fore despise  not  thou  the  chastening  of  the  Almighty. 

For  he  maketh  sore,  and  he  bindeth  up  ;  he  woundeth,  and 
his  hands  make  whole. 


OF  PATIENCE  IN  SICKNESS.  119 

He  shall  deliver  thee  in  six  troubles ;  yea,  in  seven  there 
shall  no  evil  touch  thee. 

Thou  slialt  come  to  thy  grave  in  a  just  age,  like  as  a 
shock  of  corn  coineth  in  iiis  season. 

I  remember  thee  upon  my  bed,  and  meditate  upon  thee 
in  the  night  watches.  Because  thou  hast  been  my  help, 
therefore  under  the  shadow  of  thy  wings  will  I  rejoice.  My 
soul  followcth  hard  after  thee  ;  for  thy  right  hand  hath  up- 
holden  me.  Psal.  Ixiii.  6 — 8. 

God  rcstoreth  my  soul ;  he  leadeth  me  in  the  path  of 
righteousness  for  his  name's  sake.  Yea,  though  I  walk 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no 
evil  ,•  for  thou  art  with  me  :  thy  rod  and  thy  staff',  they  com- 
fort me.  Psal.  xxiii.  3,  4. 

In  the  time  of  trouble  he  shall  hide  me  in  his  pavilion  ; 
in  the  secret  of  his  tabernacle  shall  he  hide  me,  he  shall 
set  me  upon  a  rock.  Psal.  xxvii.  5. 

The  Lord  hath  looked  down  from  the  height  of  his  sanc- 
tuary ;  from  the  heaven  did  the  Lord  behold  the  earth :  to 
hear  the  groaning  of  his  prisoners ;  to  loose  those  that  are 
appointed  to  death.  Psal.  cii.  19,  20. 

I  cried  unto  God  with  my  voice,  even  unto  God  with  my 
voice,  and  he  gave  ear  unto  me.  In  the  day  of  my  trouble 
I  sought  the  Lord  ;  my  sore  ran  in  the  night  and  ceased 
not ;  my  soul  refused  to  be  comforted.  I  remembered  God, 
and  was  troubled  ;  I  complained,  and  my  spirit  w^as  over- 
whelmed. Thou  boldest  mine  eyes  waking ;  I  am  so  trou- 
bled that  I  cannot  speak.  Will  the  Lord  cast  me  off  for 
ever  ?  and  wdll  he  be  favourable  no  more  ?  Is  his  promise 
clean  gone  forever?  Doth  his  promise  fail  for  evermore? 
Hath  God  forgotten  to  be  gracious  ?  hath  he  in  anger  shut 
up  his  tender  mercies  ?  And  I  said.  This  is  my  infirmity  : 
but  I  Avill  remember  the  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most 
High.  Psal.  Ixxvii.  1—4.  7—10. 

No  temptation  hath  taken  me,  but  such  as  is  common  to 
man  :  but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  me  to  be 
tempted  above  w^hat  I  am  able  ;  but  will,  with  the  tempta- 
tion, also  make  a  Avay  to  escape,  that  I  may  be  able  to  bear 
it.  1  Cor.  X.  13. 

Whatsoever  things  are  written  aforetime,  were  written 
for  our  learning,-  that  we,  through  patience  and  comfort 
of  the    scriptures,  might   have  hope.     Now   the   God  of 


120         THE  PRACTICE  OF  THE  GRACE 

peace  and  consolation  grant  me  to  be  so  minded.     Rom. 
XV.  4,  5. 

It  is  the  Lord  ;  let  him  do  what  seemeth  good  in  his  eyes. 
1  Sam.  iii.  18. 

Surely  the  word  that  the  Lord  hath  spoken  is  very  good  ; 
but  thy  servant  is  weak  :  O  remember  mine  infirmities  ; 
and  lift  thy  servant  up,  that  leaneth  upon  thy  right  hand. 

There  is  given  unto  me  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  to  buffet  me. 
For  this  thing  I  besought  the  Lord  thrice,  that  it  might  de- 
part from  me.  And  he  said  unto  me,  My  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee  :  for  my  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness 
Most  gladly  therefore  will  I  glory  in  my  infirmities,  that  thi 
power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me.  For  when  I  am  weak 
then  am  I  strong.  2  Cor.  xii.  7 — 10. 

O  Lord,  thou  hast  pleaded  the  causes  of  my  soul ;  thoi/ 
hast  redeemed  my  life.  And  I  said.  My  strength  and  m> 
hope  is  in  the  Lord  ;  remembering  my  affliction  and  m} 
misery,  the  wormwood  and  the  gall.  My  soul  hath  them 
still  in  remembiance,  and  is  humbled  within  me.  This  I 
recal  to  my  mind,  therefore  I  have  hope. 

It  is  the  Lord's  mercies  that  we  are  not  consumed,  be- 
cause his  compassions  fail  not.  They  are  ncAV  every  morn- 
ing ;  great  is  thy  faithfulness.  The  Lord  is  my  portion,  said 
my  soul  ;  therefore  w^ill  I  hope  in  him. 

The  Lord  is  good  to  them  that  wait  for  him  ;  to  the  soul 
that  seeketh  him.  It  is  good  that  a  man  should  both  hope 
and  quietly  wait  for  the  salvation  of  the  Lord.  For  the 
Lord  will  not  cast  off  for  ever.  But  though  he  cause  grief, 
yet  will  he  have  compassion  according  to  the  multitude  of 
his  mercies.  For  he  doth  not  afflict  vvillingly,  nor  grieve 
the  children  of  men.  Lam.  iii.  58.  18—26.  31—33.  39. 

Wherefore  doth  a  living  man  complain  ?  a  man  for  the 
punishment  of  his  sins  ?  O  that  thou  w^ouldst  hide  me  in 
the  grave,  [of  Jesus,]  that  thou  wouldst  keep  me  secret  un- 
til the  wrath  be  past :  that  thou  wouldst  appoint  me  a  set 
time,  and  remember  me  !  Job',  xiv.  13. 

Shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  God,  and  shall  we 
not  receive  evil]  Job,  ii.  20. 

The  sick  man  may  recite,  or  hear  recited,  the  following 
Psalms  in  the  intervals  of  his  agony. 


OF  PATIENCE  IN  SICKNESS.  121 

L 

0  Lord,  rebuke  me  not  in  thy  anger,  neither  chasten  me 
m  thy  hot  displeasure.  Psalm,  vi. 

Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  Lord,  for  I  am  weak ;  O  Lord, 
heal  me,  for  my  bones  are  vexed. 

My  soul  is  also  sore  vexed :  but  thou,  O  Lord,  how 
long? 

Return,  O  lord,  deliver  my  soul :  O  save  me  for  thy  mer- 
cies' sake. 

For  in  death  no  man  remembereth  thee ;  in  the  grave  who 
shall  give  thee  thanks  ? 

1  am  weary  with  my  groaning  ;  all  the  night  make  I  my 
bed  to  swim ;  I  water  my  couch  with  my  tears. 

Mine  eye  is  consumed  because  of  grief;  it  waxeth  old  be- 
cause of  all  my  [sorrows.'] 

Depart  from  me  all  ye  workers  of  iniquity ;  for  the  Lord 
hath  heard  the  voice  of  my  weeping. 

The  Lord  hath  heard  my  supplication  :  the  Lord  will  re- 
ceive my  prayer. 

Blessed  be  the  Lord,  who  hath  heard  my  prayer,  and 
hath  not  turned  his  mercy  from  me. 

n. 

In  the  Lord  put  I  my  trust ;  how  say  ye  to  my  soul.  Flee 
as  a  bird  to  your  mountain?  Psalm,  xi. 

The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple  ;  the  Lord's  throne  is  in 
heaven  ;  his  eyes  behold,  his  eyelids  try  the  children  of  men. 

Preserve  me,  O  God ;  for  in  thee  do  I  put  my  trust.  Psal. 
xvi.  1. 

0  my  soul,  thou  hast  said  unto  the  Lord,  Thou  art  my 
Lord ;  my  goodness  extendeth  not  to  thee. 

The  Lord  is  the  portion  of  mine  inheritance  and  of  my 
cup  :  thou  maintainest  my  lot. 

1  will  bless  the  Lord,  who  hath  given  me  counsel ;  my 
reins  also  instruct  me  in  the  night  seasons. 

I  have  set  the  Lord  always  before  me ;  because  he  is  at 
my  right  hand,  I  shall  not  be  moved. 

Therefore  my  heart  is  glad,  and  my  glory  rejoiceth ;  my 
flesh  also  shall  rest  in  hope. 

Thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life  :  in  thy  presence  is 
the  fulness  of  joy,  at  thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for 
evermore. 

As  for  me,  I  will  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness ;  I 
I  20 


122  THE  PRACTICE  OF  THE  CJIACE 

shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake,  with  tliy  likeness.  Psaini, 
xvii. 

III. 

Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  Lord,  for  I  am  in  trouble ;  mine 
eye  is  consumed  with  grief;  yea,  my  soul  and  my  belly. 
Psalm,  xxxi. 

For  my  life  is  spent  with  grief;  and  my  years  with  sigh- 
ing :  my  strength  faileth  because  of  mine  iniquity,  and  my 
bones  are  consumed. 

I  am  like  a  broken  vessel. 

But  I  trusted  in  thee,  O  Lord  ;  I  said,  Thou  art  my  God. 

My  times  are  in  thy  hand  ;  make  thy  face  to  shine  upon 
thy  servant ;  save  me  for  thy  mercy's  sake. 

When  thou  saidst.  Seek  ye  my  face,  my  heart  said  unto 
thee.  Thy  face,  Lord,  will  I  seek.     Psalm,  xxvii. 

Hide  not  thy  face  from  me ;  put  not  thy  servant  away  in 
thine  anger;  thou  hast  been  my  help;  leave  me  not,  nei- 
ther forsake  me,  O  God  of  my  salvation. 

I  had  fainted,  unless  I  had  believed  to  see  the  goodness 
of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living. 

0  how  great  is  thy  goodness,  which  thou  hast  laid  up 
for  them  that  fear  thee  ;  which  thou  hast  wrought  for 
them  that  trust  in  thee  before  the  sons  of  men  !  Psalm, 
xxxi. 

Thou  shalt  hide  them  in  the  secret  of  thy  presence  from 
the  pride  of  man  :  thou  shalt  keep  them  secretly  in  a  pa- 
vilion from  the  strife  of  tongues,  Yfrom  the  calumnies  and 
aggravation  of  sins  by  devils.] 

1  said  in  my  haste,  I  am  cut  off  from  before  thine  eyes ; 
nevertheless  thou  heardest  the  voice  of  my  supplication 
when  I  cried  unto  thee. 

O  love  the  Lord,  all  ye  his  saints ;  for  the  Lord  preserveth 
the  faithful,  and  plenteously  rewardeth  the  proud  doer. 

Be  of  good  courage,  and  he  shall  strengthen  your  heart, 
all  ye  that  hope  in  the  Lord. 

The  prayer  to  be  said  in  the  beginning  of  a  Sickness. 

O  Almighty  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  who,  in  thy  jus- 
tice, didst  send  sorrow  and  tears,  sickness  and  death,  into 
the  world,  as  a  punishment  for  man's  sins,  and  hast  com- 
prehended all  under  sin,  and  this  sad  covenant  of  suffer- 
ings, not  to  destroy  us,  but  that  thou  mightest  have  mercy 


OF  PATIENCE  IN  SICKNESS.  123 

Upon  all,  making  thy  justice  to  minister  to  mercy,  short  af- 
flictions to  an  eternal  weight  of  glory  ;  as  thou  hast  turned 
my  sins  into  sickness,  so  turn  my  sickness  totlie  advantages 
of  liolincss  and  religion,  of  mercy  and  pardon,  of  faith  and 
hope,  of  grace  and  glory.  Thou  hast  now  called  me  to  the 
fellowship  of  suHcrings  ;  Lord,  by  the  instrument  of  religion 
let  my  present  condition  be  so  sanctiiied,  tiiat  my  sufferings 
may  be  united  to  the  sufferings  of  my  Lord,  that  so  thou  may- 
est  pity  me  and  assist  me.  Relieve  my  sorrow,  and  support 
my  spirit ;  direct  my  thoughts,  and  sanctify  the  accidents  of 
my  sickness,  and  that  the  punishment  of  my  sin  may  be  the 
school  of  virtue  ;  in  which,  since  thou  hast  now  entered  me. 
Lord,  make  me  a  holy  proficient ;  that  I  may  behave  myself 
as  a  son  under  discipline,  humbly  and  obediently,  evenly 
and  penitently,  that  I  may  come  by  this  means  nearer  unto 
thee ;  that  if  I  shall  go  forth  of  this  sickness  by  the  gate 
of  life  and  health,  I  may  return  to  the  world  with  great 
strengths  of  spirit,  to  run  a  new  race  of  a  stricter  holiness, 
and  a  more  severe  religion  ;  or  if  I  pass  from  hence  with 
the  outlet  of  death,  I  may  enter  into  the  bosom  of  my  Lord, 
and  may  feel  the  present  joys  of  a  certain  hope  of  that  sea 
of  pleasures,  in  which  all  thy  saints  and  servants  shall  be 
comprehended  to  eternal  ages.  Grant  this  for  Jesus  Christ's 
sake,  our  dearest  Lord  and  Saviour.     Amen. 

An  Act  of  Resignation  to  be  said  by  a  sick  Person  in  all  the 
Accidents  of  his  Sickness, 

O  eternal  God,  thou  hast  made  me  and  sustained  me  ;  thou  • 
lia.-t  blessed  me  in  all  the  days  of  my  life,  and  hast  taken 
<?are  of  me  in  all  variety  of  accidents  ;  and  nothing  happens 
to  me  in  vain,  nothing  without  thy  providence  ;  and  I  know 
thou  smitest  thy  servants  in  mercy,  and  with  designs  of  the 
greatest  pity  in  the  world :  Lord,  I  humbly  lie  down  under 
thy  rod;  do  with  me  as  thou  pleasest ;  do  thou  choose  for 
me,  not  only  the  whole  state  and  condition  of  being,  but 
every  little  and  great  accident  of  it.  Keep  me  safe  by  thy 
grace,  and  then  use  what  instrument  thou  pleasest,  of 
bringing  me  to  thee.  Lord,  I  am  not  solicitous  of  the  pas- 
sage, so  I  may  get  to  thee.  Only,  O  Lord,  remember  my 
infirmities,  and  let  thy  servant  rejoice  in  thee  always,  and 
feel  and  confess,  and  glory  in  thy  goodness.  O  be  thou 
as  delightful  to  me  in  this  my  medicinal  sickness,  as  ever 
thou  wert  in  any  of  the  dangers  of  my  prosperity  ;  let  me 


124         THE  PRACTICE  OF  THE  GRACE 

not  peevishly  refuse  thy  pardon  at  the  rate  of  a  severe 
discipline.  I  am  thy  servant  and  thy  creature,  thy  pur- 
chased possession,  and  thy  son  ;  I  am  all  thine ;  and  because 
thou  hast  mercy  in  store  for  all  that  trust  in  thee,  I  cover 
mine  eyes,  and  in  silence  wait  for  the  time  of  my  redemp- 
tion. Amen. 

A  Prayer  for  the  Grace  of  Patience » 

Most  merciful  and  gracious  Father,  who  in  the  redemp- 
tion of  lost  mankind  by  the  passion  of  thy  most  holy  Son, 
hast  established  a  covenant  of  sufferings,  I  bless  and  mag- 
nify  thy  name,  that  thou  hast  adopted  me  into  the  inherit- 
ance of  sons,  and  hast  given  me  a  portion  of  my  elder  bro- 
ther. Lord,  the  cross  falls  heavy,  and  sits  uneasy  upon  my 
shoulders  :  my  spirit  is  willing,  but  my  flesh  is  weak ;  I 
humbly  beg  of  thee,  that  I  may  now  rejoice  in  this  thy  dis- 
pensation and  effect  of  providence.  I  know  and  am  per- 
suaded, that  thou  art  then  as  gracious,  when  thou  smitest 
us  for  amendment  or  trial,  as  when  thou  relievest  our  wea- 
ried  bodies,  in  compliance  with  our  infirmity.  I  rejoice, 
O  Lord,  in  thy  rare  and  mysterious  mercy,  who,  by  suffer- 
ings, hast  turned  our  misery  into  advantages  unspeakable  ; 
for  so  thou  makest  us  like  to  thy  Son,  and  givest  us  a  gift, 
that  the  angels  never  did  receive  ;  for  they  cannot  die  in 
conformity  to,  and  imitation  of  their  Lord  and  ours ;  but, 
blessed  be  thy  name,  we  can  ;  and,  dearest  Lord,  let  it  be 
so.     Amen. 

IL 

Thou,  who  art  the  God  of  patience  and  consolation, 
strengthen  me  in  the  inner  man,  that  I  may  bear  the  yoke 
and  burden  of  the  Lord  without  any  uneasy  and  useless 
murmurs  and  ineffective  unwillingness.  Lord,  I  am  un- 
able to  stand  under  the  cross,  unable  of  myself;  but  thou, 

0  holy  Jesus,  who  didst  feel  the  burden  of  it,  who  didst 
sink  under  it,  and  wert  pleased  to  admit  a  man  to  bear 
part  of  the  load,  when  thou  underwentest  all  for  him,  be 
thou  pleased  to  ease  this  load  by  fortifying  my  spirit,  that 

1  may  be  strongest  when  I  am  weakest,  and  may  be  able 
to  do  and  suffer  every  thing  thou  pleasest,  through  Christ, 
who  strengthens  me.  Lord,  if  thou  wilt  support  me,  I  will 
for  ever  praise  thee  ;  if  thou  wilt  suffer  the  load  to  press 
me  yet  more  heavily,  I  will  cry  unto  thee,  and  complain 
unto  my  God ;  and  at  last  I  Avill  lie  down  and  die,  and  by 


OF  PATiENCK  l.\  fc'I(.K.\ESS.  X25 

the  mercies  and  intercession  of  the  holy  Jesus,  and  tiie 
conduct  of  thy  blessed  Spirit,  and  the  ministry  of  angels, 
pass  into  those  mansions  where  holy  souls  rest,  and  weep 
no  more.  Lord,  pity  me  ;  Lord,  sanctify  this  my  sickness  ; 
Lord,  strengthen  me  ;  holy  Jesus,  save  me,  and  deliver  me. 
Thou  knowest  how  shamefully  I  have  fallen  with  pleasure  ; 
in  thy  mercy  and  very  pity,  let  me  not  fall  with  pain  too. 
O  let  me  never  charge  God  foolishly,  nor  offend  thee  by  my 
impatience  and  uneasy  spirit,  nor  weaken  the  hands  and 
.hearts  of  those,  that  charitably  minister  to  my  needs  ;  but 
let  me  pass  through  the  valley  of  tears  and  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death  with  safety  and  peace,  with  a  meek 
spirit  and  a  sense  of  the  Divine  mercies :  and  though  thou 
bleakest  me  in  pieces,  my  hope  is,  thou  wilt  gather  me  up 
in  the  gatherings  of  eternity.  Grant  this  eternal  God,  gra- 
cious Father,  for  the  merits  and  intercession  of  our  merci- 
ful high-priest,  who  once  suffered  for  me,  and  for  ever  inter- 
cedes for  me,  our  most  gracious  and  ever-blessed  Saviour 
Jesus. 

A  Prayer,  to  be  said  when  the  sick  Man  takes  Physic. 

O  most  blessed  and  eternal  Jesus,  thou,  who  art  the  great 
physician  of  our  souls,  and  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  aris- 
ing with  healing  in  thy  wings,  to  thee  is  given  by  thy  hea- 
venly Father  the  government  of  all  the  world,  and  thou  dis- 
posest  every  great  and  little  accident  to  thy  Father's  honour, 
and  to  the  good  and  comfort  of  them  that  love  and  serve 
thee  ;  be  pleased  to  bless  the  ministry  of  thy  servant  in  or- 
der to  my  ease  and  health  ;  direct  his  judgment,  prosper  the 
medicines,  and  dispose  the  chances  of  my  sickness  fortu- 
nately, that  I  may  feel  the  blessing  and  loving-kindness  of 
the  Lord  in  the  ease  of  my  pain  and  the  restitution  of  my 
health ;  that  I,  being  restored  to  the  society  of  the  living, 
and  to  thy  solemn  assemblies,  may  praise  thee  and  thy  good- 
ness, secretly  among  the  faithful,  and  in  the  congregation 
of  thy  redeemed  ones,  here  in  the  outer-courts  of  the  Lord, 
and  hereafter  in  thy  eternal  temple  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen. 

SECTION  III. 

Of  the  Practice  of  the  Grace  of  Faith  in  the 

time  of  Sick?iess. 

Now  is  the  time,  in  which  faith  appears  most  necessary, 
and  most  difficult.     It  is  the  foundation  of  a  good  life,  and 
12  2  o2 


126  THE  PRACTICE  OF  FAITH 

the  foundation  of  all  our  hopes  ;  it  is  that,  without  which 
we  cannot  live  well,  and  without  which  we  cannot  die  well : 
it  is  a  grace  that  then  we  shall  need  to  support  our  spirits, 
to  sustain  our  hopes,  to  alleviate  our  sickness,  to  resist 
temptation,  to  prevent  despair.  Upon  the  belief  of  the  arti- 
cles of  our  religion,  we  can  do  the  works  of  a  holy  life  ;  but 
upon  belief  of  the  promises,  we  can  bear  our  sickness  pa- 
tiently, and  die  cheerfully.  The  sick  man  may  practice  it 
in  the  following  instances. 

1.  Let  the  sick  man  be  careful,  that  he  do  not  admit  of 
any  doubt  concerning  that  which  he  believed  and  received 
from  common  consent,  in  his  best  health  and  days  of  elec- 
tion and  religion.  For  if  the  devil  can  but  prevail  so  far 
as  to  unfix  and  unrivet  the  resolution  and  confidence  or 
fulness  of  assent,  it  is  easy  for  him  so  to  unwind  the  spirit, 
that  from  n^hy  to  whether  or  no,  from  v)hether  or  no  to 
scai'cely  not,  from  scarcely  not  to  absolutely  not  at  all,  are 
steps  of  a  descending  and  falling  spirit :  and  whatsoever  a 
man  is  made  to  doubt  of  by  the  weakness  of  his  under- 
standing in  a  sickness,  it  will  be  hard  to  get  an  instrument 
strong  or  subtle  enougli  to  reinforce  and  insure ;  for  when 
the  strengths  are  gone,  by  which  faith  held,  and  it  does  not 
stand  firm  by  the  weight  of  its  own  bulk  and  great  consti- 
tution, nor  yet  by  the  cordage  of  a  tenacious  root ;  then  it 
is  prepared  for  a  ruin,  which  it  cannot  escape  in  the  tem- 
pests of  sickness  and  the  assaults  of  a  devil.  Discourse 
and  argument,  the  line  of  tradition,  and  a  never-failing  ex- 
perience, the  Spirit  of  God,  and  the  truth  of  miracles,  the 
word  of  prophecy,  and  the  blood  of  martyrs,  the  excel- 
lency of  the  doctrine,  and  the  necessity  of  men,  the  riches 
of  the  promises,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  revelations,  the 
reasonableness  and  sublimity,  the  concordance  and  the 
usefulness,  of  the  articles,  and  their  compliance  with  all 
the  needs  of  man,  and  the  government  of  commonwealths, 
are  like  the  strings  and  branches  of  the  roots,  by  which 
faith  stands  firm  and  unmoveable  in  the  spirit  and  under- 
standing of  a  man.  But  in  sickness,  the  understanding 
is  shaken,  and  the  ground  is  removed  in  which  the  root 
did  grapple,  and  support  its  trunk ;  and  therefore  there  is 
no  way  now,  but  that  it  be  left  to  stand  upon  the  old  confi- 
dences, and  by  the  firmament  of  its  own  weight :  it  must 
be  left  to  stand,  because  it  always  stood  there  before  :  and  as 
it  stood  all  his  lifetime  in  the  ground  of  understanding,  so 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS.  127 

it  must  now  be  supported  with  will,  and  a  fixed  resolution. 
But  disputation  tempts  it,  and  shakes  it  with  trying,  and 
overthrows  it  with  shaking.  Above  all  things  in  the  world, 
let  the  sick  man  fear  a  proposition,  which  his  sickness  hath 
put  into  him  contrary  to  the  discourses  of  health  and  a  sober 
untroubled  reason. 

2.  Let  the  sick  man  mingle  the  recital  of  his  creed  to- 
gether with  his  devotions,  and  in  that  let  him  account  his 
faith  ;  not  in  curiosity  and  factions,  in  the  confessions  of 
parties  and  interests ;  for  some  over-forward  zeals  are  so 
earnest  to  profess  their  little  and  uncertain  articles,  and 
glory  so  to  die  in  a  particular  and  divided  communion,  that, 
in  the  profession  of  their  faith,  they  lose  or  discompose  their 
charity.  Let  it  be  enough,  that  we  secure  our  interest  of 
heaven,  though  we  do  not  go  about  to  appropriate  the  man- 
sions to  our  sect :  for  every  good  man  hopes  to  be  saved, 
as  he  is  a  christian,  and  not  as  he  is  a  Lutheran,  or  of  ano- 
ther division.  However,  those  articles,  upon  which  he 
can  build  the  exercise  of  any  virtue  in  his  sickness,  or 
upon  the  stock  of  which  he  can  improve  his  present  con- 
dition, are  such  as  consist  in  the  greatness  and  goodness, 
the  veracity  and  mercy  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ ; 
nothing  of  which  can  be  concerned  in  the  fond  disputa- 
tions, which  faction  and  interest  hath  too  long  maintained 
in  Christendom. 

3.  Let  the  sick  man's  faith  especially  be  active  about 
the  promises  of  grace,  and  the  excellent  things  of  the 
gospel :  those,  which  can  comfort  his  sorrows,  and  enable 
his  patience  :  those,  upon  the  hopes  of  which  he  did  the 
duties  of  his  life,  and  for  which  he  is  not  unwilling  to  die  ; 
such  as  the  intercession  and  advocation  of  Christ,  remis- 
sion of  sins,  the  resurrection,  the  mysterious  arts  and  mer- 
cies of  man's  redemption,  Christ's  triumph  over  death  and 
all  the  powers  of  hell,  the  covenant  of  grace,  or  the  blessed 
issues  of  repentance  ;  and,  above  all,  the  article  of  eternal 
life,  upon  the  strength  of  which,  eleven  thousand  virgins 
went  cheerfully  together  to  their  martyrdom,  and  twenty 
thousand  Chfistians  were  burned  by  Dioclesian  on  a 
Christmas  day,  and  whole  armies  of  Asian  Christians  offer- 
ed themselves  to  the  tribunals  of  Arius  Antonius,  and 
whole  colleges  of  severe  persons  were  instituted,  who  lived 
upon  religion,  whose  dinner  was  the  eucharist,  whose  supper 
was  praise,  and  their  nights  were  watches,  and  their  days 


128  THE  PRACTICE  OF  FAITH 

were  labour ;  for  the  hope  of  which,  then,  men  counted  it 
gain  to  lose  their  estates,  and  gloried  in  their  sufferings, 
and  rejoiced  in  their  persecutions,  and  were  glad  at  their 
disgraces.  This  is  the  article,  that  hath  made  all  the  mar- 
tyrs of  Christ  confident  and  glorious ;  and  if  it  does  not 
more  than  sufficiently  strengthen  our  spirits  to  the  present 
suffering,  it  is  because  we  understand  it  not,  but  have  the 
appetites  of  beasts  and  fools.  But  if  the  sick  man  fixes 
his  thoughts,  and  lets  his  habitation  to  dwell  here,  he 
swells  his  hope,  and  masters  his  fears,  and  eases  his  sorrows, 
and  overcomes  his  temptations. 

4.  Let  the  sick  man  endeavour  to  turn  his  faith  of  the 
articles  into  the  love  of  them :  and  that  will  be  an  excel- 
lent instrument,  not  only  to  refresh  his  sorrows,  but  to  con- 
firm his  faith  in  defiance  of  all  temptations.  For  a  sick  man 
and  a  disturbed  understanding  are  not  competent  and  fit  in- 
struments to  judge  concerning  the  reasonableness  of  a  pro- 
position. But  therefore  let  him  consider  and  love  it,  be- 
cause it  is  useful  and  necessary,  profitable  and  gracious ; 
and  when  he  is  once  in  love  with  it,  and  then  also  renews 
his  love  to  it,  when  he  feels  the  need  of  it,  he  is  an  inter- 
ested person,  and  for  his  own  sake  will  never  let  it  go,  and 
pass  into  the  shadows  of  doubting,  or  the  utter  darkness  of 
infidelity.  An  act  of  love  will  make  him  have  a  mind  to  it ; 
and  we  easily  believe  what  we  love,  but  very  uneasily  part 
with  our  belief,  which  we  for  so  great  an  interest  have  cho- 
sen, and  entertained  with  a  great  affection. 

5.  Let  the  sick  person  be  infinitely  careful,  that  his  faith 
be  not  tempted  by  any  man,  or  any  thing;  and  when  it  is  in 
any  degree  weakened,  let  him  lay  fast  hold  upon  the  con- 
clusion, upon  the  article  itself,  and  by  earnest  prayer  beg 
of  God  to  guide  him  in  certainty  and  safety.  For  let  him 
consider,  that  the  article  is  better  than  all  its  contrary  or 
contradictory,  and  he  is  concerned,  that  it  be  true,  and 
concerned  also,  that  he  do  believe  it ;  but  he  can  receive 
no  good  at  all,  if  Christ  did  not  die,  if  there  be  no  resur- 
rection, if  his  creed  hath  deceived  him;  therefore  all  that 
he  is  to  do,  is  to  secure  his  hold,  which  he  can  do  no  way 
but  by  prayer  and  by  his  interest.  And  by  this  argument 
or  instrument  it  was,  that  Socrates  refreshed  the  evil  of 
his  condition,  when  he  was  to  drink  his  aconite.  "  If  the 
soul  be  immortal,  and  perpetual  rewards  be  laid  up  for  wise 
souls,  then  I  lose  nothing  by  my  death ;  but  if  there  be 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS.  129 

not,  then  I  lose  nothing  by  my  opinion  ;  for  it  supports  my 
spirit  in  my  passage,  and  the  evil  of  being  deceived  cannot 
overtake  me  when  I  have  no  being."  So  it  is  with  all  that 
are  tempted  in  their  faith.  If  those  articles  be  not  true, 
then  the  men  are  nothing ;  if  they  be  true,  then  they  are 
happy  :  and  if  the  articles  fail,  there  can  be  no  punishment 
for  believing:  but  if  they  be  true,  my  not  believing  de- 
stroys all  my  portion  in  them,  and  possibility  to  receive  the 
excellent  things  which  they  contain.  By  faith  we  quench 
the  fiery  darts  of  the  devil :  but  if  our  faith  be  quenched, 
wherewithal  shall  we  be  able  to  endure  the  assault? 
Therefore  seize  upon  the  article,  and  secure  the  great  ob- 
ject, and  the  great  instrument,  that  is,  the  hopes  of  pardon 
and  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ ;  and  do  this  by  all 
means,  and  by  any  instrument,  artificial  or  inartificial,  by 
argument  or  by  stratagem,  by  perfect  resolution  or  by  dis- 
course, by  the  hand  and  ears  of  premises  or  the  foot  of 
the  conclusion,  by  right  or  by  wrong,  because  we  under- 
stand it,  or  because  we  love  it,  super  totam  materiam;  be- 
cause I  will,  and  because  I  ought ;  because  it  is  safe  to  do 
so,  and  because  it  is  not  safe  to  do  otherwise  ;  because  if  I 
do,  I  may  receive  a  good  ;  and  because  if  I  do  not,  I  am 
miserable ;  either  for  that  I  shall  have  a  portion  of  sorrows, 
or  that  I  can  have  no  portion  of  good  things  without  it. 

SECTION  IV. 

Acts  of  Faith,  by  7vay  of  Prayer  and  Ejaculation,  to  be  said 
by  sick  Men,  in  the  days  of  their  Temptation. 

Lord,  whither  shall  I  go?  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
Hfe.  John  vi.  68. 

I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  and  in  Jesus 
Christ,  his  only  Son,  our  Lord,  &;c. 

And  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  (fee. 

Lord,  I  believe ;  help  thou  mine  unbelief.    Mark  ix.  24. 

I  know  and  am  persuaded  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  none 
of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  to  himself;  for 
whether  we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord ;  and  whether  we 
die,  we  die  unto  the  Lord  :  whether  we  live  therefore  or  die, 
we  are  the  Lord's.     Rom.  xiv.  14.  7,  8. 

If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?  Rom.  viii, 
31—34, 


130  THE  PRACTICE  OF  FAITH 

He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up 
for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  give  us  all  things? 

Who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect '. 
It  is  God  that  justifieth.  Who  is  he  that  condemneth?  It 
is  Christ  that  died ;  yea,  rather  that  is  risen  again,  who  is 
even  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;  who  also  maketh  interces- 
sion for  us. 

If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father, 
Jesus  Christ  the  righteous ;  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins.   1  John  ii.  1,  2. 

This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinaers. 
1  Tim.  i.  15. 

0  grant  that  I  may  obtain  mercy,  that  in  me  Jesus  Christ 
may  show  forth  all  long-suflcring,  that  I  may  believe  in  him 
to  life  everlasting. 

1  am  bound  to  give  thanks  unto  God  alway,  because  God 
hath  from  the  beginning  chosen  me  to  salvation,  through 
sanctification  of  the  spirit,  and  belief  of  the  truth,  where- 
unto  he  called  me  by  the  Gospel,  to  the  obtaining  of  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  2Thess.  ii.  13,  14.  16,  17. 

Now  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  God  even  our 
Father  which  hath  loved  us,  and  hath  given  us  everlasting 
consolation,  and  good  hope  through  grace,  comfort  my  heart, 
and  establish  me  in  every  good  word  and  work. 

The  Lord  direct  my  heart  into  the  love  of  God,  and  into 
the  patient  waiting  for  Christ.  2  Thess.  iii.  5. 

O  that  our  God  would  count  me  worthy  of  this  calling, 
and  fulfil  all  the  good  pleasure  of  his  goodness,  and  the  work 
of  faith  with  power  ;  that  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
may  be  glorified  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  according  to  the  grace 
of  our  God  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    2  Thess.  i.  11,  12. 

Let  us  who  are  of  the  day  be  sober,  putting  on  the 
breast-plate  of  faith  and  love,  and  for  an  helmet  the  hope 
of  salvation.  For  God  hath  not  appointed  us  to  wrath,  but 
to  obtain  salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for 
us,  that  whether  we  wake  or  sleep,  we  should  live  together 
with  him.  Wherefore  comfort  yourselves  together,  and  edify 
one  another.  1  Thess.  v.  8 — 10.  12. 

There  is  no  name  under  heaven,  whereby  we  can  be  saved, 
but  only  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Acts  iv.  12.  And 
every  soul  which  will  not  hear  that  prophet,' shall  be  destroy- 
ed from  among  the  people.    Acts  iii.  23. 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS.  131 

God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Gal.  vi.  14.  I  desire  to  know  nothing  but  Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified.  1  Cor.  ii.  2.  For  to  me  to  live  is 
Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain.     Phil.  i.  21. 

Cease  ye  from  man,  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils  ;  for 
wherein  is  he  to  be  accounted  of?  Isa.  ii.  22.  But  the  just 
shall  live  by  faith.     Hub.  ii.  4. 

Lord,  I  believe  that  thou  art  the  Christ,  the  son  of  God, 
John  xi.  27.  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  John  iv.  42,  the  re- 
surrection and  the  life  ;  and  he  that  believeth  in  thee, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live.    John  xi.  25.  40. 

Jesus  said  unto  her,  Said  I  not  to  thee,  that  if  thou 
wouldst  believe,  thou  shouldst  see  the  glory  of  God  ? 

O  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  O  grave,  where  is  thy  vic- 
tory 7  The  sting  of  death  is  sin,  and  the  strength  of  sin  is 
the  law.  But  thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Lord,  make  me  steadfast 
and  unmoveable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord  :  for  I  know  that  my  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 
1  Cor.  XV.  55—58. 

The  Prayer  for  the  Grace  and  Strengths  of  Faith. 

O  holy  and  eternal  Jesus,  who  didst  die  for  me  and  for 
all  mankind,  abolishing  our  sin,  reconciling  us  to  God, 
adopting  us  into  the  portion  of  thine  heritage,  and  establish- 
ing with  us  a  covenant  of  faith  and  obedience,  making  our 
souls  to  rely  upon  spiritual  strengths,  by  the  supports  of  a 
holy  belief,  and  the  expectation  of  rare  promises,  and  the 
infallible  truths  of  God  ;  O  let  me  for  ever  dwell  upon  the 
rock,  leaning  upon  thy  arm,  believing  thy  word,  trusting  in 
thy  promises,  waiting  for  thy  mercies,  and  doing  thy  com- 
mandments ;  that  the  devil  may  not  prevail  upon  me,  and 
my  own  weaknesses  may  not  abuse  or  unsettle  my  persua- 
sions, nor  my  sins  discompose  my  just  confidence  in  thee 
and  thy  eternal  mercies.  Let  me  always  be  thy  servant 
and  thy  disciple,  and  die  in  the  communion  of  thy  church, 
of  all  faithful  people.  Lord,  I  renounce  whatsoever  is 
against  thy  truth :  and  if  secretly  I  have,  or  do  believe, 
any  false  proposition,  I  do  it  in  the  simplicity  of  my  heart 
and  great  weakness ;  and  if  I  could  discover  it,  would 
dash  it  in  pieces  by  a  solemn  disclaiming  it ;  for  thou 
art  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.  And  I  know,  that 
whatsoever  thou  hast  declared,  that  is  the  truth  of  God  ; 


132  THE  PRACTICE  OF  REPENTANCE 

and  I  do  firmly  adhere  to  the  religion  thou  hast  taught,  and 
glory  in  nothing  so  much  as  that  I  am  a  Christian,  that 
thy  name  is  called  upon  me.  O  my  God,  though  I  die, 
yet  will  I  put  my  trust  in  thee.  In  thee,  O  Lord,  have  I 
trusted  ;  let  me  never  be  confounded.     Amen. 

SECTION  V. 

Of  the  Practice  of  the  Grace  of  Repentance  in  the 

time  of  Sickness. 

Men  generally  do  very  much  dread  sudden  death,  and 
pray  against  it  passionately  ;  and  certainly  it  hath  in  it 
great  inconveniences  accidentally  to  men's  estates,  to  the 
settlement  of  families,  to  the  culture  and  trimming  of  souls, 
and  it  robs  the  man  of  the  blessings  which  may  be  conse- 
quent to  sickness,  and  to  the  passive  graces  and  holy  con- 
tentions of  a  Christian,  while  he  descends  to  his  grave  with- 
out an  adversary  or  a  trial;  and  a  good  man  may  be  taken 
at  such  a  disadvantage,  that  a  sudden  death  would  be  a 
great  evil,  even  to  the  most  excellent  person,  if  it  strikes 
him  in  an  unlucky  circumstance.  But  these  considerations 
are  not  the  only  ingredients  in  those  men's  discourse,  who 
pray  violently  against  sudden  deaths  ;  for  possibly,  if  this 
were  all,  there  may  be  in  the  condition  of  sudden  death 
something  to  make  recompense  for  the  evils  of  the  over- 
hasty  accident.  For  certainly,  it  is  less  temporal  evil  to 
fall  by  the  rudeness  of  a  sword,  than  the  violences  of  a 
fever,  and  the  axe  is  much  a  less  affliction  than  a  strangury  ; 
and  though  a  sickness  tries  our  virtues,  yet  a  sudden  death 
is  free  from  temptation ;  a  sickness  may  be  more  glorious, 
and  a  sudden  death  more  safe.  The  deadest  deaths  are  best, 
the  shortest  and  least  premeditate,  so  Caesar  said  ;  and 
Pliny  called  a  short  death  the  greatest  fortune  of  a  man's 
life.  For  even  good  men  have  been  forced  to  an  indecency 
of  deportment  by  the  violences  of  pain :  and  Cicero  ob- 
serves  concerning  Hercules,  that  he  was  broken  in  pieces 
with  pain  even  then,  when  he  sought  for  immortality  by  his 
death,  being  tortured  with  a  plague,  knit  up  in  the  lappet 
of  his  shirt.  And  therefore  as  a  sudden  death  certainly 
loses  the  rewards  of  a  holy  sickness,  so  it  makes,  that  a  man 
shall  not  so  much  hazard  and  lose  the  rewards  of  a  holy 
life. 

But  the  secret  of  this  affair  is  a  worse  matter :  men  live 
at  that  rate,  either  of  an  habitual  wickedness,  or  else  a  fre- 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS.  I33 

quent  repetition  of  single  acts  of  killing  and  deadly  sins, 
that  a  sudden  death  is  the  ruin  of  all  their  hopes,  and  a  per- 
fect consignation  to  an  eternal  sorrow.  But  in  this  case  also 
is  a  lingering  sickness:  for  our  sickness  may  change  us 
from  life  to  health,  from  health  to  strength,  from  strength 
to  the  firmness  and  confirmation  of  habitual  graces ;  but 
it  cannot  change  a  man  from  death  to  life,  and  begin  and 
finish  that  process,  which  sits  not  down  but  in  the  bosom 
of  blessedness.  He  that  washes  in  the  morning,  when  his 
bath  is  seasonable  and  healthful,  is  not  only  made  clean, 
but  sprightly,  and  the  blood  is  brisk  and  coloured  like  the 
first  springing  of  the  morning ;  but  they  that  wash  their 
dead,  cleanse  the  skin,  and  leave  paleness  upon  the  cheek, 
and  stifiness  in  all  the  joints.  A  repentance  upon  our 
death-bed  is  like  washing  the  corpse :  it  is  cleanly  and 
civil ;  but  makes  no  change  deeper  than  the  skin.  But 
God  knows,  it  is  a  custom  so  to  wash  them,  that  are  going 
to  dwell  with  dust,  and  to  be  buried  in  the  lap  of  their 
kindred  earth,  but  all  their  life  time  wallow  in  pollutions 
without  any  washing  at  all ;  or  if  they  do,  it  is  like  that  of 
the  Dardani,  who  washed  but  thrice  all  their  lifetime,  when 
they  are  born,  and  when  they  marry,  and  when  they  die; 
when  they  are  baptized,  or  against  a  solemnity,  or  for  the 
day  of  their  funeral :  but  these  are  but  ceremonious  wash- 
ings, and  never  purify  the  soul,  if  it  be  stained  and  hath 
sullied  the  whiteness  of  its  baptismal  robes. 

God  intended  we  should  live  a  holy  life:  he  contracted 
with  us  in  Jesus  Christ  for  a  holy  life ;  he  made  no  abate- 
ments of  the  strictest  sense  of  it,  but  such  as  did  neces- 
sarily comply  with  human  infirmities  or  possibilities ;  that  is, 
he  understood  it  in  the  sense  of  repentance,  which  still  is  so 
to  renew  our  duty,  that  it  may  be  a  holy  life  in  the  second 
sense ;  that  is,  some  great  portion  of  our  life  to  be  spent  in 
living  as  Christians  should.  A  resolving  to  repent  upon 
our  death-bed,  is  the  greatest  mockery  of  God  in  the  world, 
and  the  most  perfect  contradictory  to  all  his  excellent  de- 
signs of  mercy  and  holiness :  for  therefore  he  threatened 
us  with  hell,  if  we  did  not,  and  he  promised  heaven,  if  we 
did  live  a  holy  life  :  and  a  late  repentance  promises  heaven  to 
us  upon  other  conditions,  even  when  we  have  lived  wickedly. 
It  renders  a  man  useless  and  intolerable  to  the  world  ; 
taking  off  the  great  curb  of  religion,  of  fear  and  hope,  and 
permitting  all  impiety  with  the  greatest  impunitv  and  en- 
m  2  P 


134  TT^IK  PRACTICE  OF  REPEiNTA^CE 

couragement  in  the  world.  By  this  means  we  see  so  many 
:T«.d«,-  ^ckvx^ovtov?,  as  Philo  calls  them,  or,  as  the  prophet, 
pneros  centum  ajinorum,  children  of  almost  a  hundred 
years  old,  upon  whose  grave  we  may  write  the  inscription 
which  was  upon  the  tomb  of  Similis  in  Xiphilin.  "  Here 
he  lies,  who  ivas  so  many  years,  but  lived  but  seven.  And 
the  course  of  nature  runs  counter  to  the  perfect  design  of 
piety  :  and  God,  who  gave  us  a  life  to  live  to  him,  is  only 
served  at  our  death,  when  we  die  to  all  the  world :  and  we 
undervalue  the  great  promises  made  by  the  holy  Jesus,  for 
which  the  piety,  the  strictest  unerring  piety,  of  ten  thousand 
ages  is  not  a  proportionable  exchange  :  yet  we  think  it  a 
hard  bargain  to  get  heaven,  if  we  be  forced  to  part  with  one 
lust,  or  to  live  soberly  twenty  years ;  but,  like  Demetrius 
Afer  (who,  having  lived  a  slave  all  his  life-time,  yet  desir- 
ing to  descend  to  his  grave  in  freedom,  begged  manumis- 
sion of  his  Lord,)  we  lived  in  the  bondage  of  our  sin  all 
our  days,  and  hope  to  die  the  Lord's  freed-men.  But  above 
all,  this  course  of  a  delayed  repentance  must  of  necessity 
therefore  be  ineftective  and  certainly  mortal,  because  it  is 
an  entire  destruction  of  the  very  formality  and  essential 
constituent  reason  of  religion  :  which  I  thus  demonstrate. 

When  God  made  man,  and  propounded  to  him  an  im- 
mortal and  a  blessed  state,  as  the  end  of  his  hopes  and  the 
perfection  of  his  condition,  he  did  not  give  it  him  for 
nothing,  but  upon  certain  conditions  :  which,  although  they 
could  add  nothing  to  God,  yet  they  were  such  things, 
which  man  could  value,  and  they  were  his  best :  and  God 
had  made  appetites  of  pleasure  in  man,  that  in  them  the 
scene  of  his  obedience  should  lie.  For  when  God  made 
instances  of  man's  obedience,  he,  1.  either  commanded 
such  things  to  be  done,  which  man  did  naturally  desire  ; 
or,  2.  such  things  which  contradict  his  natural  desires;  or, 
3.  such  which  were  indifferent.  Not  the  first  and  the  last : 
for  it  could  be  no  effect  of  love  or  duty  towards  God,  for  a 
man  to  eat,  when  he  was  impatiently  hungry,  and  could 
not  stay  from  eating;  neither  was  it  any  contention  of 
obedience  or  labour  of  love  for  a  man  to  look  eastward  once 
a  day,  or  turn  his  back  when  the  north  wind  blew  fierce 
and  loud.  Therefore  for  the  trial  and  instance  of  obedience, 
God  made  his  laws  so,  that  they  should  lay  restraint  upon 
man's  appetites,  so  that  man  might  part  with  something 
of  his  own,  that  he  may  give  to  God  his  will,  and  deny 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS.  135 

it  to  himself  for  the  interest  of  his  service;  and  chastity 
is  the  deniiil  of  a  violent  desire  ;  and  justice  is  parting- ',vith 
money  tiiat  niioht  help  to  enrich  nie ;  and  meekness  is  a 
huge  contradiction  to  pride  and  revenge ;  and  the  wander- 
ing of  our  eyes,  and  the  greatness  of  our  fancy,  and  our 
imaginative  opinions,  are  to  be  lessened,  that  we  may  serve 
God.  There  is  no  other  way  of  serving  God,  we  have  no- 
thing else  to  present  unto  him ;  we  do  not  else  give  him 
any  thing  or  part  of  ourselves,  but  when  we,  for  his  sake, 
part  with  what  vre  naturally  desire ;  and  difficulty  is  essen- 
tial to  virtue,  and  without  choice  there  can  be  no  reward, 
and  in  the  satisfaction  of  our  natural  desires  there  is  no 
election;  we  run  to  them,  as  beasts  to  the  river  or  the 
crib.  If,  therefore,  any  man  shall  teach  or  practise  such 
a  religion,  that  satisfies  all  our  natural  desires  in  the  days 
of  desire  and  passion,  of  lust  and  appetites,  and  only  turns 
to  God  when  his  appetites  are  gone,  and  his  desires  cease ; 
this  man  hath  overthrown  the  very  being  of  virtues,  and 
the  essential  constitution  of  religion ;  religion  is  no  reli- 
gion, and  virtue  is  no  act  of  choice,  and  reward  comes  by 
chance  and  without  condition,  if  we  only  are  religious  when 
we  cannot  choose ;  if  we  part  with  our  money,  when  we  can- 
not keep  it;  with  our  lust  when  w^e  cannot  act  it;  with 
our  desires  when  they  have  left  us.  Death  is  a  certain  mor- 
tifier  ;  but  that  mortification  is  deadly,  not  useful  to  the  pur- 
poses of  a  spiritual  life.  When  we  are  compelled  to  depart 
from  our  evil  customs,  and  leave  to  live,  that  we  may  begin 
to  live,  then  we  die  to  die  ;  that  life  is  the  prologue  to  death, 
and  thenceforth  we  die  eternally. 

St.  Cyril  speaks  of  certain  people,  that  chose  to  wor- 
ship the  sun,  because  he  was  a  day-god  :  for  believing  that 
he  was  quenched  every  night  in  the  sea,  or  that  he  had  no 
influence  upon  them  that  light  up  candles,  and  lived  by 
the  light  of  fire,  they  were  confident  they  might  be  x\the- 
ists  all  night,  and  live  as  they  list.  Men  who  divide  their 
little  portion  of  time  between  religion  and  pleasures,  be- 
tween God  and  God's  enemy,  think,  that  God  is  to  rule 
but  in  his  certain  period  of  time,  and  that  our  life  is  the 
stage  for  passion  and  folly,  and  the  day  of  death  for  the 
work  of  our  life.  But  as  to  God  both  the  day  and  night 
are  alike,  so  are  the  first  and  last  of  our  days  :  all  are  his 
due,  and  he  will  account  severely  with  us  for  the  follies  of 
the  first  and  the  evil  of  the  last.     The  evils  and  the  pains 


136        '^HE  PRACTICE  OF  REPENTANCE 

are  great,  which  are  reserved  for  those  who  defer  their  res- 
titution to  God's  favour  till  their  death.  And  therefore 
Antisthenes  said  well,  "  It  is  not  the  happy  death,  but  the 
happy  life,  that  makes  man  happy."  It  is  in  piety,  as  in 
fame  and  reputation ;  he  secures  a  good  name  but  loosely, 
that  trusts  his  fame  and  celebrity  only  to  his  ashes ;  and 
it  is  more  a  civility  than  the  basis  of  a  firm  reputation,  that 
men  speak  honour  of  their  departed  relatives  ;  but  if  their 
life  be  virtuous,  it  forces  honour  from  contempt,  and 
snatches  it  from  the  hand  of  envy,  and  it  shines  through 
the  crevices  of  detraction  :  and  as  it  anointed  the  head  of 
the  living,  so  it  embalms  the  body  of  the  dead.  From 
these  premises  it  follows,  that  when  we  discourse  of  a  sick 
man's  repentance,  it  is  intended  to  be,  not  a  beginning, 
but  the  prosecution  and  consummation  of  the  covenant  of 
repentance,  which  Christ  stipulated  with  us  in  baptism, 
and  which  we  needed  all  our  life,  and  which  we  began  long 
before  this  last  arrest,  and  in  which  we  are  now  to  make 
farther  progress,  that  we  may  arrive  to  that  integrity  and 
fulness  of  duty,  "  that  our  sins  may  be  blotted  out,  when 
the  times  of  refreshing  shall  come  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord."* 

SECTION  VI. 
Rules  for  the  Practice  of  Repentance  in  Sickness. 

1.  Let  the  sick  man  consider,  at  what  gate  his  sickness 
entered ;  and  if  he  can  discover  the  particular,  let  him  in- 
stantly, passionately,  and  with  great  contrition  dash  the 
crime  in  pieces,  lest  he  descend  into  his  grave  in  the  midst 
of  a  sin,  and  thence  remove  into  an  ocean  of  eternal  sor- 
row. But  if  he  only  suffers  the  common  fate  of  man,  and 
knows  not  the  particular  inlet,  he  is  to  be  governed  by  the 
following  measures. 

Inquire  into  the  repentance  of  thy  former  life  particular- 
ly ;  whether  it  were  of  a  great  and  perfect  grief,  and 
productive  of  fixed  resolutions  of  holy  living,  and  reduc- 
tive of  these  to  act;  how  many  days  and  nights  we  have 
spent  in  sorrow  or  care,  in  habitual  and  actual  pursuances 
of  virtue;  what  instrument  we  have  chosen  and  used 
for  the  eradication  of  sin;  how  we  have  judged  our- 
selves, and  how  punished ;  and,  in  sum,  whether  we 
have  by  the  grace  of  repentance,  changed  our  life  from 
*  Acts  iii.  19. 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKINKSS.  137 

criminal  to  virtuous,  from  one  habit  to  another;  and  whe- 
ther we  have  paid  for  tiie  pleasure  of  our  sin  by  smart  or 
sorrow,  by  the  eftusion  of  alms,  or  pernoctatious  or  abodes 
in  prayers,  so  as  the  spirit  hath  been  served  in  our  repent- 
ance as  earnestly  and  as  greatly,  as  our  appetites  have  been 
provided  for,  in  the  days  of  our  shame  and  folly. 

3.  Supply  the  imperfections  of  thy  repentance  by  a  ge- 
neral or  universal  sorrow  for  the  sins,  not  only  since  the 
last  communion  or  absolution,  but  of  thy  whole  life  ;  for 
all  sins  known  or  unknown,  repented  and  unrepented,  of 
ignorance  or  infirmity,  which  thou  knowest,  or  which  others 
have  accused  thee  of;  thy  clamorous  and  thy  v/hispering 
sins,  the  sins  of  scandal  and  the  sins  of  a  secret  conscience, 
of  the  flesh  and  of  the  spirit ;  for  it  would  be  but  a  sad  arrest 
to  thy  soul  wandering  in  strange  and  unusual  regions,  to 
see  a  scroll  of  uncancelled  sins  represented  and  charged 
upon  thee  for  want  of  care  and  notices,  and  that  thy  re- 
pentance shall  become  invalid,  because  of  its  imperfections. 

4.  To  this  purpose  it  is  usually  advised  by  spiritual 
persons,  that  the  sick  man  make  a  universal  confession,  or 
a  renovation  and  repetition  of  all  the  particular  confessions 
and  accusations  of  his  whole  life  ;  that  now,  at  the  foot  of 
his  account  he  may  represent  the  sum  total  to  God  and  his 
conscience,  and  make  provisions  for  their  remedy  and  par- 
don, according  to  his  present  possibilities. 

5.  Now  is  the  time  to  make  reflex  acts  of  repentance  : 
that  as,  by  a  general  repentance,  we  supply  the  want  of 
the  just  extension  of  parts ;  so,  by  this,  we  may  supply  the 
proper  measures  of  the  intention  of  degrees.  In  our  health, 
we  can  consider  concerning  our  own  acts,  whether  they  be 
real  or  hypocritical,  essential  or  imaginary,  sincere  or 
upon  interest,  integral  or  imperfect,  commensurate  or  de- 
fective. And  although  it  is  a  good  caution  of  securities, 
after  all  our  care  and  diligence  still  to  suspect  ourselves 
and  our  own  deceptions,  and  for  ever  to  beg  of  God  par- 
don and  acceptance  in  the  union  of  Christ's  passion  and 
intercession  ;  yet,  in  proper  speaking,  reflex  acts  of  repent, 
ance,  being  a  suppletory  after  the  imperfection  of  the 
direct,  are  then  most  fit  to  be  used,  when  we  cannot  pro- 
ceed in  and  prosecute  the  direct  actions.  To  repent  be- 
cause we  cannot  repent,  and  to  grieve  because  we  cannot 
grieve,  was  a  device  invented  to  serve  the  turn  of  the  mo- 
ther of  Peter  Gratian :  but  it  was  used  by  her,  and  so  ad- 

7/i  2  2  p  2 


138  THE  PRACTICE  OF   REPENTANCE 

vised  to  be,  in  her  sickness,  and  last  actions  of  repentance. 
For,  in  our  perfect  health  and  understanding,  if  we  do  not 
understand  our  first  act,  we  cannot  discern  our  second; 
and  if  we  be  not  sorry  for  our  sins,  we  cannot  be  sorry  for 
want  of  sorrows ;  it  is  a  contradiction  to  say  we  can  ;  be- 
cause want  of  sorrow  to  which  we  are  obliged,  is  certainly 
a  great  sin  ;  and  if  we  can  grieve  for  that,  then  also  for  the 
rest ;  if  not  for  all,  then  not  for  this.  But  in  the  days  of 
weakness  the  case  is  otherwise ;  for  then  our  actions  are 
imperfect,  our  discourse  weak,  our  internal  actions  not  dis- 
cernible, our  fears  great,  our  work  to  be  abbreviated,  and 
our  defects  to  be  supplied  by  spiritual  arts  ;  and  therefore 
it  is  proper  and  proportionate  to  our  state,  and  to  our  ne- 
cessity, to  beg  of  God  pardon  for  the  imperfections  of  our 
repentance,  acceptance  of  our  weaker  sorrows,  supplies  out 
of  the  treasures  of  grace  and  mercy.  And  thus  repenting 
of  the  evil  and  unhandsome  adherences  of  our  repentance, 
in  the  whole  integrity  of  the  duty  it  will  become  a  repent- 
ance not  to  be  repented  of. 

6.  Now  is  the  time,  beyond  which  the  sick  man  must, 
at  no  hand,  defer  to  make  restitution  of  all  his  unjust  pos- 
sessions, or  other  men's  rights,  and  satisfactions  for  all  in- 
juries and  violences,  according  to  his  obligation  and  possi- 
bilities ;  for  although  many  circumstances  might  impede  the 
acting  it  in  our  lifetime,  and  it  was  permitted  to  be  deferred 
in  many  cases,  because  by  it  justice  was  not  hindered,  and 
oftentimes  piety  and  equity  were  provided  for ;  yet  because 
this  is  the  last  scene  of  our  life,  he  that  does  not  act  it,  so 
far  as  he  can,  or  put  it  into  certain  conditions  and  order  of 
effecting,  can  never  do  it  again,  and  therefore  then  to  de- 
fer it  is  to  omit  it,  and  leaves  the  repentance  defective  in 
an  integral  and  constituent  part. 

7.  Let  the  sick  man  be  diligent  and  watchful,  that  the 
principle  of  his  repentance  be  contrition,  or  sorrow  for  sins, 
commenced  upon  the  love  of  God.  For  although  sorrow  for 
sins  upon  any  motive  may  lead  us  to  God  by  many  interme- 
dial passages,  and  is  the  threshold  of  returning  sinners  ;  yet 
it  is  not  good  nor  effective  upon  our  death-bed  ;  because  re- 
pentance is  not  then  to  begin,  but  must  then  be  finished 
and  completed ;  and  it  is  to  be  a  supply  and  preparation 
of  all  the  imperfections  of  that  duty,  and  therefore  it  must 
by  that  time  be  arrived  to  contrition ;  that  is,  it  must  have 
grown  from  fear  to  love,  from  the  passions  of  a  servant  to 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS.  I39 

the  affections  of  a  son.  The  reason  of  which  (besides  the 
precedent)  is  this ;  Because,  when  our  repentance  is  in  this 
state,  it  supposes  the  man  also  in  a  state  of  grace,  a  well- 
grown  Christian  ;  for  to  hate  sin  out  of  the  love  of  God,  is 
not  the  felicity  of  a  new  convert,  or  an  infant  grace  (or  if 
it  be,  that  love  also  is  in  its  infancy :)  but  it  supposes  a 
good  progress,  and  the  man  habitually  virtuous,  and  tend- 
ing to  perfection ;  and  therefore  contrition,  or  repentance 
so  qualified,  is  useful  to  great  degrees  of  pardon  ;  because 
the  man  is  a  gracious  person,  and  that  virtue  is  of  good 
degree,  and  consequently  a  fit  employment  for  him,  that 
shall  work  no  more,  but  is  to  appear  before  his  Judge  to 
receive  the  hire  of  his  day.  And  if  his  repentance  be  con- 
trition even  before  this  state  of  sickness,  let  it  be  increased 
by  spiritual  arts,  and  the  proper  exercises  of  charity. 

Means  of  exciting  Contrition,  or  Repentance  of  Sins, 
proceeding  from  the  love  of  God. 

To  which  purpose  the  sick  man  may  consider,  and  is  to 
be  reminded,  (if  he  does  not,)  that  there  are  in  God  all  the 
motives  and  causes  of  amability  in  the  ^vorld ;  that  God  is 
so  infinitely  good,  that  there  fire  some  of  the  greatest  and 
most  excellent  spirits  of  heaven,  whose  work,  and  whose 
felicity,  and  whose  perfections,  and  whose  nature  it  is,  to 
flame  and  burn  in  the  brightest  and  most  excellent  love  ;  that 
to  love  God  is  the  greatest  glory  of  heaven  ;  that  in  him  there 
are  such  excellences,  that  the  smallest  rays  of  them  commu- 
nicated to  our  weaker  understandings,  are  yet  sufficient  to 
cause  ravishments,  and  transportations,  and  satisfactions, 
and  joys  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory ;  that  all  the  wise 
Christians  of  the  world  know  and  feel  such  causes  to  love 
God,  that  they  all  profess  themselves  ready  to  die  for  the 
love  of  God,  and  the  apostles  and  millions  of  the  martyrs 
did  die  for  him ;  and  although  it  be  harder  to  live  in  his 
love  than  to  die  for  it,  yet  all  the  good  people,  that  ever 
gave  their  names  to  Christ,  did,  for  his  love,  endure  the 
crucifying  their  lusts,  the  mortification  of  their  appetites, 
the  contradictions  and  death  of  their  most  passionate  natural 
desires  ;  that  kings  and  queens  have  quitted  their  diadems, 
and  many  married  saints  have  turned  their  mutual  vows  into 
the  love  of  Jesus,  and  married  him  only,  keeping  a  virgin 
chastity  in  a  married  life,  that  they  may  more  tenderly  ex- 
press their  love  to  God  :  that  all  the  good  we  have,  derives 


140  THE  PRACTICE  OF  REPENTANCE 

from  God's  love  to  us ;  and  all  the  good  we  can  hope  for, 
is  the  effect  of  his  love,  and  can  descend  only  upon  them 
that  love  him;  that  by  his  love  it  is,  that  we  receive  the 
holy  Jesus,  and  by  his  love  we  receive  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  by  his  love  we  feel  peace  and  joy  within  our  spirits, 
and  by  his  love  we  receive  the  mysterious  sacrament. 
And  what  can  be  greater,  than  that  from  the  goodness  and 
love  of  God  we  receive  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  adoption,  and  the  inheritance  of  sons,  and  to  be  co- 
heirs with  Jesus,  and  to  have  pardon  of  our  sins,  and  a 
divine  nature,  and  restraining  grace,  and  the  grace  of 
sanctification,  and  rest  and  peace  within  us,  and  a  certain 
expectation  of  glory  ?  Who  can  choose  but  love  him,  who, 
when  we  had  provoked  him  exceedingly,  sent  his  Son  to  die 
for  us,  that  we  might  live  with  him  ;  who  does  so  desire  to 
pardon  us  and  save  us,  that  he  hath  appointed  his  holy  Son 
continually  to  intercede  for  us  ?  that  his  love  is  so  great, 
that  he  offers  us  great  kindness,  and  entreats  us  to  be  happy, 
and  makes  many  decrees  in  heaven  concerning  the  interest 
of  our  soul,  and  the  very  provision  and  support  of  our  per- 
sons ;  that  he  sends  an  angel  to  attend  upon  every  of  his  ser- 
vants, and  to  be  their  guard  and  their  guide  in  all  their  dan- 
gers and  hostilities  ;  tliat  for  our  sakes  he  restrains  the  devil 
and  put  his  mightiness  in  fetters  and  restraints,  and  chas- 
tises his  malice  with  decrees  of  grace  and  safety  ;  that  he 
it  is  who  makes  all  the  creatures  serve  us,  and  takes  care 
of  our  sleeps,  and  preserves  all  plants  and  elements,  all 
minerals  and  vegetables,  all  beasts  and  birds,  all  fishes  and 
insects  for  food  to  us  and  for  ornament,  for  physic  and 
instruction,  for  variety  and  wonder,  for  delight  and  for 
religion  ;  that  as  God  is  all  good  in  himself,  and  all  good 
to  us,  so  sin  is  directly  contrary  to  God,  to  reason,  to  reli- 
gion, to  safety  and  pleasure,  and  felicity  ;  that  it  is  a  great 
dishonour  to  a  man's  spirit  to  have  been  made  a  fool  by  a 
weak  temptation  and  an  empty  lust;  and  to  have  rejected 
God,  who  is  so  rich,  so  wise,  so  good,  and  so  excellent,  so 
delicious,  and  so  profitable  to  us :  that  all  the  repentance 
in  the  world  of  exec  i lent  men  does  end  in  contrition,  or  a 
sorrow  for  sins  proceeding  from  the  love  of  God ;  because 
they  that  are  in  a  state  of  grace,  do  not  fear  hell  violently, 
and  so  long  as  they  remain  in  God's  favour,  although  they 
sufl^er  the  infirmities  of  men,  yet  they  are  God's  portion  ; 
and  therefore  all  the  repentance  of  just  and  holy  men,  which 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS.  141 

is  certainly  the  best,  is  a  repentance  not  for  lower  ends, 
but  because  they  are  the  friends  of  God,  and  they  are 
full  of  indignation,  that  they  have  done  an  act  against 
the  honour  of  their  patron,  and  their  dearest  Lord  and  Fa- 
ther :  that  it  is  a  huge  imperfection  and  a  state  of  weakness 
to  need  to  be  moved  with  fear  or  temporal  respects ;  and 
they  that  are  so,  as  yet  are  either  immerged  in  the  affec- 
tions of  the  world  or  of  themselves;  and  those  men  that 
bear  such  a  character,  are  not  yet  esteemed  laudable  per- 
sons, or  men  of  good  natures,  or  the  sons  of  virtue ;  that 
no  repentance  can  be  lasting,  that  relies  upon  any  thing 
but  the  love  of  God :  for  temporal  motives  may  cease,  and 
contrary  contingencies  may  arise,  and  fear  of  hell  may  be 
expelled  by  natural  or  acquired  hardnesses,  and  is  always 
the  least  when  we  have  the  most  need  of  it,  and  most  cause 
for  it ;  for  the  more  habitual  our  sins  are,  the  more  cau- 
terized our  conscience  is,  the  less  is  the  fear  of  hell,  and 
yet  our  danger  is  much  the  greater ;  that  although  fear  of 
hell,  or  other  temporal  motives  may  be  the  first  inlet  to  a  re- 
pentance, yet  repentance,  in  that  constitution  and  under 
those  circumstances,  cannot  obtain  pardon,  because  there 
is  in  that  no  union  with  God,  no  adhesion  to  Christ,  no  en- 
dearment of  passion  or  of  spirit,  no  similitude  or  conform- 
ity to  the  great  instrument  of  our  peace,  our  glorious  Me- 
diator ;  for  as  yet  a  man  is  turned  from  his  sin,  but  not 
converted  to  God  ;  the  first  and  last  of  our  returns  to  God 
being  love,  and  nothing  but  love  ;  for  obedience  is  the  first 
part  of  love,  and  fruition  is  the  last ;  and  because  he  that 
does  not  love  God,  cannot  obey  him,  therefore  he  that  does 
not  love  him,  cannot  enjoy  him. 

Now  that  this  may  be  reduced  to  practice,  the  sick  man 
may  be  advertised,  that  in  the  actions  of  repentance,  he 
separate  low,  temporal,  sensual,  and  self-ends  from  his 
thoughts,  and  so  do  his  repentance,  that  he  may  still  re- 
flect honour  upon  God ;  that  he  confess  his  justice  in  punish- 
ing, that  he  acknowledge  himself  to  have  deserved  the 
worst  of  evils;  that  he  heartily  believe  and  profess,  that  if 
he  perish  finally,  yet  that  God  ought  to  be  glorified  by  that 
sad  event,  and  that  he  hath  truly  merited  so  intolerable  a 
calamity  ;  that  he  also  be  put  to  make  acts  of  election  and 
preference,  professing  that  he  would  willingly  endure  all 
temporal  evils  rather  than  be  in  the  disfavour  of  God,  or  in 
the  state  of  sin  ;  for,  by  this  last  instance,  he  will  be  quitted 


142  THE  PRACTICE  OF  REPENTANCE 

from  the  suspicion  of  leaving  sin  for  temporal  respects,  be- 
cause he,  by  an  act  of  imagination  or  feigned  presence  of 
the  object  to  him,  entertains  the  temporal  evil,  that  he  may 
leave  the  sin  ;  and,  therefore,  unless  he  be  a  hypocrite,  does 
not  leave  the  sin  to  be  quit  of  the  temporal  evil.  And  as 
for  the  other  motive  of  leaving  sin  out  of  the  fear  of  hell, 
because  that  is  an  evangelical  motive  conveyed  to  us  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  is  immediate  to  the  love  of  God ;  if  the 
schoolmen  had  pleased,  they  might  have  reckoned  it  as  the 
handmaid,  and  of  the  retinue  of  contrition ;  but  the  more 
the  considerations  are  sublimed  above  this,  of  the  greater 
effect  and  the  more  immediate  to  pardon  will  be  the  re- 
pentance. 

8.  Let  the  sick  persons  do  frequent  actions  of  repentance, 
by  way  of  prayer  for  all  those  sins  which  are  spiritual,  and 
in  which  no  restitution  or  satisfaction  material  can  be  made, 
and  whose  contrary  acts  cannot  in  kind  be  exercised.  For 
penitential  prayers,  in  some  cases,  are  the  only  instances 
of  repentance  that  can  be.  An  envious  man,  if  he  gives 
God  hearty  thanks  for  the  advancement  of  his  brother,  hath 
done  an  act  of  mortification  of  his  envy,  as  directly  as  cor- 
poral austerities  are  an  act  of  chastity,  and  an  enemy  to 
uncleanness  :  and  if  I  have  seduced  a  person  that  is  dead 
or  absent,  if  I  cannot  restore  him  to  sober  counsels  by  my 
discourse  and  undeceiving  him,  I  can  only  repent  of  that 
by  vv^ay  of  prayer ;  and  intemperance  is  no  way  to  be  re- 
scinded or  punished  by  a  dying  man  but  by  hearty  prayers. 
Prayers  are  a  great  help  in  all  cases ;  in  some  they  are 
proper  acts  of  virtue,  and  direct  enemies  to  sin :  but  al- 
though alone,  and  in  long  continuance  they  alone  can  cure 
some  one  or  some  few  little  habits,  yet  they  can  never  alone 
change  the  state  of  the  man ;  and  therefore  are  intended  to 
be  a  suppletory  to  the  imperfections  of  other  acts ;  and,  by 
that  reason,  are  the  proper  and  most  pertinent  employment 
of  a  clinic  or  death-bed  penitent. 

9.  In  those  sins,  whose  proper  cure  is  mortification  cor- 
poral, the  sick  man  is  to  supply  that  part  of  his  repentance 
by  a  patient  submission  to  the  rod  of  sickness ;  for  sick- 
ness does  the  work  of  penances,  or  sharp  afl3ictions  and 
dry  diet,  perfectly  well :  to  which,  if  we  also  put  our  wills 
and  make  it  our  act  by  an  after  election,  by  confessing  the 
justice  of  God,  by  bearing  it  sweetly,  by  begging  it  may  be 
inedicinal,  there  is  nothing  wanting  to  the  perfection  of  this 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS. 


143 


part,  but  that  God  confirm  our  patience,  and  hear  our 
prayers.  When  the  guilty  man  runs  to  punishment,  the 
injured  person  is  prevented,  and  hath  no  whither  to  go  but 
to  forgiveness. 

10.  I  have  learned  but  of  one  suppletory  more,  for  the 
perfection  and  proper  exercise  of  a  sick  man's  repentance  ; 
but  it  is  such  a  one  as  will  go  a  great  way  in  the  abolition 
of  our  past  sins,  and  makingour  peace  with  God  even  after 
a  less  severe  life ;  and  that  is,  that  the  sick  man  do  some 
heroical  actions  in  the  matter  of  charity,  or  religion,  of  jus- 
tice,  or  severity.  There  is  a  story  of  an  infamous  thief,  who, 
having  begged  his  pardon  of  the  emperor  Mauricius,  was 
yet  put  into  the  hospital  of  St.  Sampson,  where  he  so  plenti- 
fully bewailed  his  sins  in  the  last  agonies  of  his  death, 
that  the  physician  who  attended,  found  him  unexpectedly 
dead,  and  over  his  face  a  handkerchief  bathed  in  tears  ; 
and  soon  after  somebody  or  other  pretended  to  a  revela- 
tion of  this  man's  beatitude.  It  was  a  rare  grief  that  was 
noted  in  this  man,  which  begot  in  that  age  a  confidence  of 
his  being  saved  ;  and  that  confidence  (as  things  then  went) 
was  quickly  called  a  revelation.  But  it  was  a  stranger  se- 
verity, which  is  related  by  Thomas  Cantipratanus  concern- 
ing a  young  gentleman  condemned  for  robbery  and  violence, 
who  had  so  deep  a  sense  of  his  sin,  that  he  was  not  con- 
tent with  a  single  death,  but  begged  to  be  tormented,  and 
cut  in  pieces  joint  by  joint,  with  intermedial  senses,  that 
he  might,  by  such  a  smart,  signify  a  greater  sorrow.  Some 
have  given  great  estates  to  the  poor  and  to  religion ;  some 
have  built  colleges  for  holy  persons ;  many  have  suffered 
martyrdom  :  and  though  those  that  died  under  the  con- 
duct of  the  Maccabees,  in  defence  of  their  country  and 
religion,  had  pendants  on  their  breasts  consecrated  to  the 
idols  of  the  Jamnenses ;  yet  that  they  gave  their  lives  in 
such  a  cause  with  so  great  a  duty  (the  biggest  things  they 
could  do  or  give,)  it  was  esteemed  to  prevail  hugely  to- 
wards the  pardon  and  acceptation  of  their  persons.  An  he- 
roic action  of  virtue  is  a  huge  compendium  of  religion  :  for 
if  it  be  attained  to  by  the  usual  measures  and  progress  of 
a  Christian,  from  inclination  to  act,  from  act  to  habit,  from 
habit  to  abode,  from  abode  to  reigning,  from  reigning  to 
perfect  possession,  from  possession  to  extraordinary  ema- 
nations, that  is,  to  heroic  actions,  then  it  must  needs  do  the 
work  of  man,  by  being  so  great  towards  the  work  of  God : 


144  THE  PRACTICE  OF  REPENTANCE 

but  if  a  man  comes  thither  per  saltum,  or  on  a  sudden 
(which  is  seldom  seen)  then  it  supposes  the  man  always 
well  inclined,  but  abused  by  accident  or  hope,  by  confi- 
dence  or  ignorance ;  then  it  supposes  the  man  for  the  pre- 
sent in  a  great  fear  of  evil,  and  a  passionate  desire  of  par- 
don ;  it  supposes  his  apprehensions  great,  and  his  time 
little  :  and  what  the  event  of  that  will  be,  no  man  can  tell; 
but  it  is  certain,  that  to  some  purposes  God  will  account 
for  our  religion  on  our  death-bed,  not  by  the  measures  of 
our  time,  but  the  eminency  of  affection  (as  said  Celestine 
the  First ;)  that  is,  supposing  the  man  in  the  state  of  grace, 
or  in  the  revealed  possibility  of  salvation,  then  an  heroical 
act  hath  the  reward  of  a  longer  series  of  good  actions,  in 
an  even  and  ordinary  course  of  virtue. 

11.  In  what  can  remain  for  the  perfecting  of  a  sick  man's 
repentance,  he  is  to  be  helped  by  the  ministries  of  a  spirit- 
ual guide. 

SECTION  VII. 
Acts  of  Repentance,  by  ivay  of  Prayer  and  Ejaculation,  to 
be  used  especially  by  Old  men  in  their  age,  and  by  all 
Men  in  their  Sickness. 

Let  us  search  and  try  our  ways,  and  turn  again  to  the 
Lord.  Let  us  lift  up  our  hearts  with  our  hands  unto  God 
in  the  heavens.  We  have  transgressed  and  rebelled  :  and 
thou  hast  not  pardoned.  Thou  hast  covered  with  anger 
and  persecuted  us ;  thou  hast  slain,  thou  hast  not  pitied. 
O  cover  not  thyself  with  a  cloud  ;  but  let  our  prayer  pass 
through.     Lam.  iii.  40 — 44. 

1  have  sinned  :  what  shall  I  do  unto  thee,  O  thou  pre- 
server of  men  ?  Why  hast  thou  set  me  as  a  mark  against 
thee,  so  that  I  am  a  burthen  to  myself?  And  why  dost 
not  thou  pardon  my  transgression,  and  take  away  mine  ini- 
quity ?  for  now  shall  I  sleep  in  the  dust,  and  thou  shalt  seek 
me  in  the  morning,  but  I  shall  not  be.    Job  vii.  20,  21. 

The  Lord  is  righteous ;  for  I  have  rebelled  against  his 
commandments.  Hear,  I  pray,  all  ye  people,  behold  my 
sorrow.  Behold,  O  Lord  I  am  in  distress ;  my  bowels  are 
troubled ;  my  heart  is  turned  within  me  ;  for  I  have  griev- 
ously rebelled.     Lam.  i.  18.  40. 

Thou,  O  Lord,  remainest  for  ever;  thy  throne  from 
generation  to  generation.  Wherefore  dost  thou  forget 
us  for  ever,  and  forsake  us  so  long  time  ?     Turn   thou  us 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS.  I45 

unto  thee,  O  Lord,  and  so  shall  wc  be  turned :  renew  our 
days  as  of  old.  O  reject  me  not  utterly,  and  be  not  exceed- 
ing wroth  against  thy  servant.     Lam.  v.  19 — 22. 

O  remember  not  the  sins  of  my  youth,  nor  my  transgres- 
sions ;  but  according  to  thy  mercies  remember  thou  me, 
for  thy  goodness'  sake,  O  Lord.  Psal.  xxv.  7.  Do  thou  for 
me,  O  God  the  Lord,  for  thy  name's  sake  ;  because  thy 
mercy  is  good  deliver  thou  mc.  Fori  am  poor  and  needy, 
and  my  heart  is  wounded  within  me.  I  am  gone  like  the 
shadow  that  declineth ;  I  am  tossed  up  and  down  as  the 
locust.     Psal.  cix.  21 — 23. 

Then  Zaccheus  stood  forth,  and  said,  Behold,  Lord,  half 
of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor ;  and  if  I  have  wronged  any 
man,  I  restore  him  fourfold.  Luke  xix.  8. 

Hear  my  prayer,  O  Lord,  and  consider  my  desire.  Psal. 
cxliii.  1.  Let  my  prayer  be  set  forth  in  thy  sight  as  the  in- 
cense, and  let  the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  be  an  evening  sa- 
crifice. Psal.  cxli.  3.  And  enter  not  into  judgment  with 
thy  servant ;  for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justi- 
fied. Teach  me  to  do  the  thing  that  pleaseth  thee,  for  thou 
art  my  God :  let  thy  loving  Spirit  lead  me  forth  into  the 
land  of  righteousness.     Psal.  cxliii.  2.  10. 

I  will  speak  of  mercy  and  judgment :  unto  thee,  O  Lord, 
will  I  make  my  prayer.  I  will  behave  myself  wisely  in  a 
perfect  way.  O  when  wilt  thou  come  unto  me?  I  will 
walk  in  my  house  with  a  perfect  heart.  I  will  set  no  wick- 
ed thing  before  mine  eyes ;  I  hate  the  work  of  them  that 
turn  aside  :  it  shall  not  cleave  to  me.  Psal.  ci.  1 — 3, 

Hide  thy  face  from  my  sins,  and  blot  out  all  mine  ini- 
quities. Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God,  and  renew  a 
right  spirit  within  me.  Deliver  me  from  blood-guiltiness, 
O  God,  from  malice,  envy,  the  follies  of  lust  and  violences, 
of  passion,  &;c.  thou  God  of  my  salvation  ;  and  my  tongue 
shall  sing  aloud  of  thy  righteousness.  Psal.  li.  9,  10.  14. 

The  sacrifice  of  God  is  a  broken  heart ;  a  broken  and  a 
contrite  heart,  O  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise.    Ver.  17. 

Lord,  I  have  done  amiss  ;  I  have  been  deceive  d  ;  let  so 
great  a  wrong  as  this  be  removed,  and  let  it  be  so  no  more. 
The  Prayer  for  the  Grace  and  Perfection  of  Repentance. 
L 
O  almighty  God,  thou  art  the  great  judge  of  all  the 
world,  the  father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  father  of 
n  2  Q 


146  THE  PRACTKT.  OF  REPENTANCE 

mercies,  the  father  of  men  and  angels  :  thon  lovest  not  th;it 
a  sinner  should  perish,  but  delightest  in  our  conversion 
and  salvation,  and  hast,  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  establisli- 
ed  the  covenant  of  repentance,  and  promised  pardon  to  a] I 
them  that  confess  their  sins  and  forsake  them ;  O  my  God, 
be  thou  pleased  to  work  in  me,  what  thou  hast  commanded 
should  be  in  me.  Lord,  I  am  a  dry  tree,  who  neither  have 
brought  forth  fruit  unto  thee  and  unto  holiness,  nor  have 
wept  out  salutary  tears,  the  instrument  of  life  and  restitu- 
tion, but  have  behaved  myself  like  an  unconcerned  person 
in  the  ruins  and  breaches  of  my  soul:  but,  O  God,  thou  art 
my  God,  early  will  I  seek  thee  :  my  soul  thirsteth  for  thee, 
in  a  barren  and  thirsty  land,  where  no  water  is.*  Lord, 
give  me  the  grace  of  tears  and  pungent  sorrow;  let  my  heart 
be  as  a  land  of  rivers  of  waters,  and  my  head  a  fountain  of 
tears ;  turn  my  sin  into  repentance,  and  let  my  repentance 
proceed  to  pardon  and  refreshment. 

n. 

Support  me  with  thy  graces,  strengthen  me  with  thy 
Spirit,  soften  my  heart  with  the  fire  of  thy  love,  and  the 
dew  of  heaven,  with  penitential  showers  :  make  my  care  pru- 
dent, and  the  remaining  portion  of  my  days  like  the  per- 
petual watches  of  the  night,  full  of  caution  and  observance, 
strong  and  resolute,  patient  and  severe.  T  remember,  O 
Lord,  that  I  did  sin  with  greediness  and  passion,  with  great 
desires  and  an  unabated  choice  ;  O  let  me  be  as  great  in  my 
repentance,  as  ever  1  have  been  in  my  calamity  and  shame  : 
let  my  hatred  of  sin  be  great  as  my  love  to  thee,  and  both 
as  near  to  infinite,  as  my  proportion  can  receive. 

in. 

O  Lord,  I  renounce  all  affection  to  sin,  and  would  not 
buy  my  health  nor  redeem  my  life  with  doing  any  thing 
against  the  laws  of  my  God,  but  would  rather  die  than  of- 
fend thee.  O  dearest  Saviour,  have  pity  upon  thy  ser- 
vant ;  let  me  by  thy  sentence,  be  doomed  to  perpetual 
penance  during  the  abode  of  this  life ;  let  every  sigh  be 
the  expression  of  a  repentance,  and  every  groan  an  accent 
of  spiritual  life,  and  every  stroke  of  my  disease  a  punish- 
ment of  my  sin,  and  an  instrument  of  pardon ;  that,  at  my 
return  to  the  land  of  innocence  and  pleasure,  I  may  eat  of 
the  votive  sacrifice  of  the  supper  of  the  Lamb,  that  was, 

*  Psal.  Ixiii.  1. 


I 


IN  TIME  OF  SICKNESS.  I47 

from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  slam  for  the  sins  of  every 
sorrowful  and  returning  sinner.  O  grant  me  sorrow  here 
and  joy  hereafter,  tlirough  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  our  hope, 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  justifier  of  a  sinner,  and 
the  glory  of  all  faithful  souls.     Amen. 

A  prayer  for  Pardon  of  Sins,  to  he  said  freqvently  in  time 
of  Sickness,  and  in  all  the  portions  of  Old  Age. 

O  eternal  and  most  gracious  Father,  I  humbly  throw  my 
self  down  at  the  foot  of  thy  mercy  seat,  upon  the  confidence 
of  thy  essential  mercy,  and  thy  commandment,  that  we 
should  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace,  that  we  may 
find  mercy  in  time  of  need.  O  my  God,  hear  the  prayers 
and  cries  of  a  sinner,  who  calls  earnestly  for  mercy.  Lord, 
my  needs  are  greater  than  all  the  degrees  of  my  desire  can 
be ;  unless  thou  hast  pity  upon  me,  I  perish  infinitely  and 
intolerably ;  and  then  there  will  be  one  voice  fewer  in  the 
choir  of  singers,  who  shall  recite  thy  praises  to  eternal 
ages.  But,  O  Lojrd,  in  mercy  deliver  my  soul.  O  save 
me  for  thy  mercy's  sake.*  For,  in  the  second  death,  there 
is  no  remembrance  of  thee  :  in  that  grave  who  shall  give 
thee  thanks  ? 

II. 

O  just  and  dear  God,  my  sins  are  innumerable  ;  they  are 
upon  my  soul  in  multitudes  ;  they  are  a  burden  too  heavy 
for  me  to  bear ;  they  already  bring  sorrow  and  sickness, 
shame  and  displeasure,  guilt  and  a  decaying  spirit,  a  sense 
of  thy  present  displeasure,  and  fear  of  worse,  of  infinitely 
worse.  But  it  is  to  thee  so  essential,  so  delightful,  so 
usual,  so  desired  by  thee  to  show  mercy,  that  although  my 
sin  be  very  great,  and  my  fear  proportionable,  yet  thy  mer- 
cy is  infinitely  greater  than  all  the  world,  and  my  hope 
and  my  comfort  rise  up  in  proportions  towards  it,  that  I 
trust  the  devils  shall  never  be  able  to  reprove  it,  nor  my 
own  M^cakness  discompose  it.  Lord,  thou  hast  sent  thy 
Son  to  die  for  the  pardon  of  my  sins ;  thou  hast  given  me 
thy  Holy  Spirit  as  a  seal  of  adoption  to  consign  the  article 
of  remission  of  sins  ;  thou  hast,  for  all  my  sins,  still  con- 
tinued to  invite  me  to  conditions  of  life  by  thy  ministers  the 
prophets  ;  and  thou  hast,  with  variety  of  holy  acts,  softened 
my  spirit,  and  possessed  my  fancy,  and  instructed  my  un- 

*  Psal.  vi.  4,  5. 


148  THE  PRACTICE  OF  REPENTANCE 

derstanding,  and  bended  and  inclined  my  will,  and  direc  % 
ed  or  overruled  my  passions  in  order  to  repentance  and  par- 
don ;  and  why  should  not  thy  servant  beg  passionately,  and 
humbly  hope  for,  the  effects  of  all  these  thy  strange  and 
miraculous  acts  of  loving  kindness  ?  Lord,  I  deserve  it  not, 
but  I  hope  thou  wilt  pardon  all  my  sins  ;  and  I  beg  it  of  thee 
for  Jesus  Christ  his  sake,  whom  thou  hast  made  the  great  en- 
dearment of  thy  promises,  and  the  foundation  of  our  hopes, 
and  the  mighty  instrument  whereby  we  can  obtain  of  thee 
whatsoever  we  need  and  can  receive. 
III. 
O  my  God,  how  shall  thy  servant  be  disposed  to  receive 
such  a  favour,  which  is  so  great,  that  the  ever-blessed  Jesus 
did  die  to  purchase  it  for  us ;  so  great  that  the  falling 
angels  never  could  hope,  and  never  shall  obtain  it?  Lord, 
I  do  from  my  soul  forgive  all  that  have  sinned  against  me : 

0  forgive  me  my  sins,  as  I  forgive  them  that  have  sinned 
against  me.  Lord,  I  confess  my  sins  unto  thee  daily,  by  the 
accusations,  and  secret  acts  of  conscience  ;  and  if  we  con- 
fess our  sins,  thou  hast  called  it  a  part  of  justice  to  forgive 
us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness. 
Lord,  I  put  my  trust  in  thee ;  and  thou  art  ever  gracious  to 
them  that  put  their  trust  in  thee.  I  call  upon  my  God  for 
mercy  ;  and  thou  art  always  more  ready  to  hear  than  we  to 
pray.     But  all  that  I  can  do,  and  all  that  I  am,  and  all  that 

1  know  of  myself  is  nothing  but  sin,  and  infirmity,  and 
misery :  therefore  I  go  forth  of  myself,  and  throw  myself 
wholly  into  the  arms  of  thy  mercy  through  Jesus  Christ,  and 
beg  of  thee  for  his  death  and  passion's  sake,  by  his  resur- 
rection and  ascension,  by  all  the  parts  of  our  redemption, 
and  thy  infinite  mercy,  in  which  thou  pleasest  thyself  above 
all  the  works  of  the  creation,  to  be  pitiful  and  compassion- 
ate to  thy  servant  in  the  abolition  of  all  my  sins :  so  shall 
I  praise  thy  glories  with  a  tongue  not  defiled  with  evil 
language,  and  a  heart  purged  by  thy  grace,  quitted  by  thy 
mercy,  and  absolved  by  thy  sentence,  from  generation  to 
generation.     Amen. 

An  act  of  holy  Resolution  of  Amendment  ofLifCy 
in  case  of  Recovery. 

O  most  just  and  most  merciful  Lord  God,  who  hast  sent 
evil  diseases,  sorrow  and  fear,   trouble    and    uneasiness, 


AN  AiNALYSIS  OR  EXPLICATIOA,  &c.  149 

briars  and  thorns,  into  the  world,  and  planted  thoni  in  our 
houses,  and  round  aljout  our  dwellings,  to  keep  sin  from 
our  souls,  or  to  drive  it  thence  ;  I  humbly  begot"  thee,  that 
this  my  sickness  may  serve  the  ends  of  the  spirit,  and  be 
a  messenger  of  spiritual  life,  an  instrument  of  reducing  rne 
to  more  religious  and  sober  courses.  I  say,  O  Lord,  that 
I  am  unready  and  unprepared  in  my  accounts,  having 
thrown  away  great  portions  of  my  time  in  vanity,  and  set 
myself  hugely  back  in  the  accounts  of  eternity ;  and  I  had 
need  live  my  life  over  again,  and  live  it  better;  but  thy 
counsels  are  in  the  great  deep,  and  thy  footsteps  in  the  wa- 
ter; and  I  know  not  what  thou  wilt  determine  of  me.  If 
I  die  1  throw  myself  into  the  arms  of  the  holy  Jesus,  whom 
I  love  above  all  things ;  and  if  I  perish  I  know  I  have  de- 
served it ;  but  thou  wilt  not  reject  him  that  loves  thee. 
But  if  I  recover,  I  will  live,  by  thy  grace  and  help,  to  do 
the  work  of  God,  and  passionately  pursue  my  interest  of 
heaven,  and  serve  thee  in  the  labour  of  love,  with  the  cha- 
rities of  a  holy  zeal,  and  the  diligence  of  a  firm  and  hum- 
ble obedience.  Lord,  I  will  dwell  in  thy  temple,  and  in 
thy  service  ;  religion  shall  be  my  employment,  and  alms 
shall  be  my  recreation,  and  patience  shall  be  my  rest,  and 
to  do  thy  will  shall  be  my  meat  and  drink;  and  to  live 
shall  be  Christ,  and  then  to  die  shall  be  gain. 

"  O  spare  me  a  little,  that  I  may  recover  my  strength 
before  I  go  hence,  and  be  no  more  seen."  "  Thy  will  be 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."     Amen. 

SECTION  VIII. 
4.W  Analysis  or  Resolution  of  the  Decalogue^  and  the  special 
Precepts  of  the  Gospel^  describing  the  Duties  enjoined^ 
and  the  sins  forbidden  respectively  ;  for  the  assistance  of 
sick  Men  in  making  their  Confessions  to  God  and  his 
Ministers,  and  the  rendering  their  Repentance  more  par- 
ticular  and  perfect. 

I.  Comm.  Thou  shalt  have  none  other  Gods  but  me. 
Duties  commanded  are,  1.  To  love  God  above  all 
things.  2.  To  obey  and  fear  him.  3.  To  worship  bim 
with  prayers,  vows,  and  thanksgivings,  presenting  to  him 
our  souls  and  bodies,  and  all  such  actions  and  expressions, 
which  the  consent  of  nations,  or  the  law  and  customs  of  the 
place  where  we  live,  have  appropriated  to  God.  4.  To 
design  all  to  God's  glory.  5.  To  inquire  after  his  will. 
n2  2  Q  2 


150  AN  ANALYSIS  OR  EXPLICATION 

6.  To  believe  all  his  word.  7.  To  submit  to  his  provi- 
dence. 8.  To  ])roceed  towards  all  our  lawful  ends  by  such 
means  as  himself  hath  appointed.  9.  To  speak  and  think 
honourably  of  God,  and  recite  his  praises,  and  confess  his 
attributes  and  perfections. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  Who  love  them- 
selves or  any  of  the  creatures  inordinately  and  intem- 
perately.  2.  They  that  despise  or  neglect  any  of  the  Divine 
precepts.  3.  They  that  pray  to  unknown,  or  false  gods. 
4.  They  that  disbelieve,  or  deny,  there  is  a  God.  5. 
They  that  make  vows  to  creatures.  6.  Or  say  prayers  to 
the  honour  of  men,  or  women,  or  angels;  as  paternosters 
to  the  honour  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  or  St.  Peter,  which  is  a 
taking  a  part  of  that  honour  which  is  due  to  God,  and 
giving  it  to  the  creature  ;  it  is  a  religion  paid  to  men  and 
women  out  of  God's  proper  portion,  out  of  prayers  directed 
to  God  immediately  ;  and  it  is  an  act  contrary  to  that  reli- 
gion which  makes  good  the  last  end  of  all  things ;  for  this, 
through  our  addresses  to  God,  passes  something  to  the 
creatures,  as  if  they  stood  beyond  him ;  for  by  the  inter- 
medial worship  paid  to  God,  they  ultimately  do  honour  to 
the  man  or  angel.  7.  They  that  make  consumptive  obla- 
tions to  the  creatures  ;  as  the  Collyridians,  who  offered 
cakes,  and  those  that  burnt  incense  or  candles  to  ilie 
Virgin  JMary.  8.  They  that  give  themselves  to  the  devil, 
or  make  contracts  with  him,  and  use  fantastic  conversation 
with  him.  9.  They  that  consult  with  witches  and  fortune- 
tellers. 10.  They  that  rely  upon  dreams  and  superstitious 
observances.  11.  That  use  charms,  spells,  superstitious 
words  and  characters,  verses  of  psalms,  the  consecrated 
elements  to  cure  diseases,  to  be  shot-free,  to  recover  stolen 
goods,  or  inquire  into  secrets.  12.  That  are  wilfully  igno- 
rant of  the  laws  of  God,  or  love  to  be  deceived  in  their 
persuasions,  that  they  may  sin  with  confidence.  13.  They 
that  neglect  to  pray  to  God.  14.  They  that  arrogate  to 
themselves  the  glory  of  any  action  or  power,  and  do  not  give 
the  glory  to  God,  as  Herod.  15.  They  that  doubt  of,  or 
disbelieve,  any  article  of  the  Creed,  or  any  proposition  of 
Scripture,  or  put  false  glosses  to  serve  secular  or  vicious 
ends  against  their  conscience,  or  with  violence  any  way 
done  to  their  reason.  16.  They  that  violently  or  passion- 
ately pursue  any  temporal  end  with  an  eagerness  greater 
than    the   thing    is    in  prudent  account.     17.  They    that 


OF  THE  DECALOGUE.  151 

make  religion  to  serve  ill  ends,  or  do  good  to  evil 
purposes,  or  evil  to  good  purposes.  18.  They  that  accuse 
God  of  injustice  or  unmercifulness,  remissness  or  cruelty  ; 
such  as  are  the  presumptuous,  and  the  desperate.  19. 
All  hypocrites  and  pretenders  to  religion,  walking  in  forms 
and  shadows,  but  denying  the  power  of  godliness.  20. 
All  impatient  persons;  all  that  repine  or  murmur  against 
the  prosperities  of  the  wicked,  or  the  calamities  of  the 
godly,  or  their  own  afflictions.  21.  All  that  blaspheme  God 
or  speak  dishonourable  things  of  so  sacred  a  Majesty.  22. 
They  that  tempt  God,  or  rely  upon  his  protection  against 
his  rules,  and  without  his  promise,  and  besides  reason,  en- 
tering into  danger,  from  which,  without  a  miracle,  they 
cannot  be  rescued.  23.  They  that  arc  bold  in  the  midst  of 
judgment,  and  fearless  in  the  midst  of  Divine  vengeance, 
and  the  accents  of  his  anger. 

II.  Comm.    Thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any  graven 

i?nage,  no?'  worship  it. 

The  moral  duties  of  this  commandment  are,  1.  To  wor 
ship  God  with  all  bodily  worship  and  external  forms  of 
address,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  church  we  live  in. 
2.  To  believe  God  to  be  a  spiritual  and  pure  substance, 
without  any  visible  form  or  shape.  3.  To  worship  God 
in  ways  of  his  ov/n  appointing,  or  by  his  proportions,  or 
measures  of  nature,  and  right  reason ;  or  public  and  holy 
customs. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  That  make  any 
image  or  pictures  of  the  Godhead,  or  fancy  any  likeness 
to  him.  2.  They  that  use  images  in  their  religion,  design- 
ing or  addressing  any  religious  worship  to  them  ;  for  if 
this  thing  could  be  naturally  tolerable,  yet  it  is  too  near  an 
intolerable  for  a  jealous  God  to  suffer.  3.  They  that  deny 
to  worship  God  with  lowly  reverence  of  their  bodies,  ac- 
cording as  the  church  expresses  her  reverence  to  God  ex- 
ternally. 4.  They  that  invent  or  practise  superstitious 
worshippings,  invented  by  man  against  God's  word,  or  with- 
out reason,  or  besides  the  public  customs  or  forms  of  wor- 
shipping, either  foolishly  or  ridiculously,  without  the  pur- 
pose of  order,  decency,  proportion  to  a  wise  or  a  religious 
end,  in  prosecution  of  some  virtue  or  duty. 

III.  Comm.      Thou  shalt  not  take  God's  name  in  vain. 
The  duties  of  this  commandment  are,  1.  To  honour  and 


152  AN  ANALYSIS  OR  EXPLICATION 

revere  the  most  holy  name  of  God.  2.  To  invocate  his 
name  directly  or  by  consequence,  in  all  solemn  and  per- 
mitted adjurations,  or  public  oaths.  3.  To  use  all  things 
and  persons,  upon  whom  his  name  is  called,  or  any  ways 
imprinted,  with  a  regardful  and  separate  manner  of  usage, 
different  from  common,  and  far  from  contempt  and  scorn. 
4.  To  swear  in  truth  and  judgment. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  Who  swear 
vainly  and  customarily,  without  just  cause,  without  compe- 
tent authority.  2.  They  that  blaspheme  or  curse  God.  3.  They 
that  speak  of  God  without  grave  cause  or  solemn  occasion. 
4.  They  that  forswear  themselves ;  that  is,  they  that  do  not 
perform  their  vows  to  God  ;  or  that  swear,  or  call  God  to 
witness  to  a  lie.  5.  They  that  swear  rashly,  or  malicious- 
ly, to  commit  a  sin,  or  an  act  of  revenge.  6.  They  that 
swear  by  any  creature  falsely,  or  any  way,  but  as  it  relates 
to  God,  and  consequently  invokes  his  testimony.  7.  All 
curious  inquirers  into  the  secrets,  and  intruders  into  the 
mysteries  and  hidden  things  of  God.  8.  They  that  curse 
God,  or  curse  a  creature  by  God.  9.  They  that  profane 
churches,  holy  utensils,  holy  persons,  holy  customs,  holy 
sacraments.  10.  They  that  provoke  others  to  swear  vo- 
luntarily, and  by  design,  or  incuriously,  or  negligently, 
when  they  might  avoid  it.  11.  They  that  swear  to  things 
uncertain  and  unknown.      \ 

IV.  Comm.  Remember  that  thou  keep  holy  the 
Sabbath-day. 
The  duties  of  this  commandment  are,  1.  To  set  apart 
some  portions  of  our  time  for  the  immediate  offices  of  reli- 
gion, and  glorification  of  God.  2.  This  is  to  be  done,  ac- 
cording as  God  or  his  holy  church  hath  appointed.  3.  One 
day  in  seven  is  to  be  set  apart.  4.  The  Christian  day  is 
to  be  subrogated  into  the  place  of  the  Jew's  day  :  the  re- 
surrection of  Christ  and  the  redemption  of  man  was  a 
greater  blessing  than  to  create  him.  5.  God  on  that  day 
to  be  worshipped  and  acknowledged  as  our  Creator,  and  as 
our  Saviour.  6.  The  day  to  be  spent  in  holy  offices,  in 
hearing  Divine  service,  public  prayers,  frequenting  the  con- 
gregations, hearing  the  word  of  God  read  or  expounded, 
reading  good  books,  meditation,  alms,  reconciling  enmi- 
ties, remission  of  burdens  and  of  offences,  of  debts  and  of 
work,  friendly  offices,  neighbourhood,  and  provoking  one 


OF  THE  DECALOGUE  I53 

another  to  good  works ;  and  to  this  end  all  servile  works 
must  be  omitted,  excepting  necessary  and  charitable  of- 
fices to  men  or  beasts,  to  ourselves  or  others. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  That  do,  or  com- 
pel or  entice  others  to  do,  servile  works  without  the  cases 
of  necessity  or  charity,  to  be  estimated  according  to  com- 
mon and  prudent  accounts.  2.  They  that  refuse  or  ne- 
tjlect  to  come  to  the  public  assemblies  of  the  church,  to 
hear  and  assist  at  the  Divine  offices  entirely.  3.  They  that 
spend  the  day  in  idleness,  forbidden  or  vain  recreations, 
or  the  actions  of  sin  and  folly.  4.  They  that  buy  and  sell 
without  the  cases  of  permission.  5.  They  that  travel  un- 
necessary journeys.  6.  They  that  act  or  assist  in  conten- 
tions or  law-suits,  markets,  fairs,  &;c.  7.  They  that  on  that 
day  omit  their  private  devotion,  unless  the  whole  day  be 
spent  in  public.  8.  They  that,  by  any  cross  or  contradic- 
tory actions  against  the  customs  of  the  church,  do  purpose- 
ly desecrate  or  unhallow  and  make  the  day  common ;  as 
they  that,  in  despite  and  contempt,  fast  upon  the  Lord's  day, 
lest  they  may  celebrate  the  festival  after  the  manner  of  the 
Christians. 

V.  Comm.     Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother. 

The  duties  are,  1.  To  do  honour  and  reverence  to,  and 
to  love  our  natural  parents.  2.  To  obey  all  their  domestic 
commands ;  for  in  them  the  scene  of  their  authority  lies. 

3.  To  give  them  maintenance  and  support  in  their  needs. 

4.  To  obey  kings  and  all  that  are  in  authority.  5.  To  pay 
tribute  and  honours,  custom  and  reverence.  6.  To  do  re- 
verence to  the  aged  and  all  our  betters.  7.  To  obey  our  mas- 
ters, spiritual  governors  and  guides,  in  those  things  which 
concern  their  several  respective  interests  and  authority. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  That  despise 
their  parents'  age  and  infirmity.  2.  That  are  ashamed  of 
their  poverty  and  extraction.  3.  That  publish  their  vices, 
errors,  and  infirmities,  to  shame  them.  4.  That  refuse  and 
reject  all  or  any  of  their  lawful  commands.  5.  Children  that 
marry  without  or  against  their  consent,  when  it  may  be 
reasonably  obtained.  6.  That  curse  them,  from  whom  they 
receive  so  many  blessings.  7.  That  grieve  the  souls  of  their 
parents,  by  not  complying  in  their  desires,  and  observing 
their  circumstances.  8.  That  hate  their  persons,  that  mock 
them,  or  use  uncomely  jestings.     9,  That  discover  their 


154  Ax\  ANALYSIS,  OR  EXPLICATION 

nakedness  voluntarily.  10.  That  murmur  against  their  in- 
junctions, and  obey  them  involuntarily.  11.  All  rebels 
against  their  kings,  or  the  supreme  power,  in  which  it  is 
legally  and  justly  invested.  12.  That  refuse  to  pay  tributes 
and  impositions  im.posed  legally.  13.  They  that  disobey 
their  masters,  murmur  or  repine  against  their  commands, 
abuse  or  deride  their  persons,  talk  rudely,  &c.  14.  They 
that  curse  the  king  in  their  heart,  or  speak  evil  of  the  ruler 
of  their  people.  15.  All  that  are  uncivil  and  rude  towards 
aged  persons,  mockers  and  scorners  of  them. 

VI.  Comm.      Thou  shall  do  no  murder. 

The  duties  are,  1.  To  preserve  our  own  lives,  the  lives 
of  our  relatives,  and  all  with  whom  we  converse  (or  who 
can  need  us,  and  we  assist,  by  prudent,  reasonable,  and 
wary  defences,  advocations,  discoveries  of  snares,  &c.  2. 
To  preserve  our  health,  and  the  integrity  of  our  bodies  and 
minds,  and  of  others.  3.  To  preserve  and  follow  peace  with 
all  men. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  That  destroy  the 
life  of  a  man  or  woman,  himself  or  any  other.  2.  That  do 
violence  to,  or  dismember  or  hurt,  any  part  of  the  body  with 
evil  intent.  3.  That  fight  duels,  or  commence  unjust  wars. 
4.  They  that  willingly  hasten  their  own  or  others'  death.  5. 
That  by  oppression  or  violence  imbitter  the  spirits  of  any, 
so  as  to  make  their  life  sad,  and  their  death  hasty.  6.  They 
that  conceal  the  dangers  of  their  neighbour,  which  they  can 
safely  discover.  7.  They  that  sow  strife  and  contention 
among  neighbours.  8.  They  that  refuse  to  rescue  or  pre- 
serve those,  whom  they  can,  and  are  obliged  to  preserve. 
9.  They  that  procure  abortion.  10.  They  that  threaten,  or 
keep  men  in  fears,  or  hate  them. 

VII.  Comm.      Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. 

The  duties  are,  1.  To  preserve  our  bodies  in  the  chastity 
of  a  single  life,  or  of  marriage.  2.  To  keep  all  the  parts 
of  our  bodies  in  the  care  and  severities  of  chastity  ;  so  that 
we  be  restrained  in  our  eyes  as  well  as  in  our  feet. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  Who  are  adul- 
terous, incestuous,  sodomitical,  or  commit  fornication.  2. 
They  that  commit  folly  alone,  dishonouring  their  own  bo- 
dies with  softness  and  wantonness.  3.  They  that  immode- 
rately let  loose  the  reins  of  their  bolder  appetite,  though 


OF  TIIE  DECALOGUE.  155 

wilhin  the  protection  of  marriage.  4.  They  that  by  wan- 
ton gestures,  wandering  eyes,  hiscivious  dressings,  disco- 
very of  the  nakedness  of  themselves  or  others,  filthy  dis- 
course, high  diet,  amorous  songs,  balls  and  revellings,  tempt 
and  betray  themselves  or  others  to  folly.  5.  They  that  marry 
a  woman  divorced  for  adultery.  6.  They  that  divorce  their 
wives  except  for  adultery,  and  marry  another. 

VIII.  Comm.     Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

The  duties  are,  1.  To  give  every  man  his  due.  2.  To 
permit  every  man  to  enjoy  his  own  goods  and  estate  quietly. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  That  injure  any 
man's  estate  by  open  violence  or  by  secret  robbery,  by 
stealth  or  cozenage,  by  arts  of  bargaining  or  vexatious  law- 
suits. 2.  That  refuse  or  neglect  to  pay  their  debts,  when 
they  are  able.  3.  That  are  forward  to  run  into  debt,  know- 
ingly beyond  their  power,  without  hopes  or  purposes  of  re- 
payment. 4.  Oppressors  of  the  poor.  5.  That  exact  usury 
of  necessitous  persons,  or  of  any  beyond  the  permissions 
of  equity,  as  determined  by  the  laws.  6.  All  sacrilegious 
persons ;  people  that  rob  God  of  his  dues  or  of  his  pos- 
sessions. 7.  All  that  game,  viz.  at  cards  and  dice,  &c.  to 
the  prejudice  and  detriment  of  other  men's  estates.  8. 
They  that  embase  coin  and  metals,  and  obtrude  them  for 
perfect  and  natural.  9.  That  break  their  promises  to  the 
detriment  of  a  third  person.  10.  They  that  refuse  to  stand 
to  their  bargains.  11.  They  that  by  negligence  imbecile 
other  men's  estates,  spoiling  or  letting  any  thing  perish 
which  is  intrusted  to  them.  12.  That  refuse  to  restore  the 
pledge. 

IX.  Comm.      Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness. 

The  duties  are,  1.  To  give  testimony  to  truth,  when  we 
are  called  to  it  by  competent  authority.  2.  To  preserve 
the  good  name  of  our  neighbours.  3.  To  speak  well  of 
them  that  deserve  it. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  That  speak  false 
things  in  judgment,  accusing  their  neighbour  unjustly,  or 
denying  his  crime  publicly,  when  they  are  asked,  and  can 
be  commanded  lawfully  to  tell  it.  2.  Flatterers,  and  3. 
Slanderers ;  4.  Backbiters ;  and  5.  Detractors.  6.  They 
that  secretly  raise  jealousies  and  suspicion  of  their  neigh- 
bours, causelessly. 


156  EXPLICATION  OF  THE  DECALOGUE.  "■ 

X.  Comm.      Thou  slialt  not  covet. 

The  duties  are,  1.  To  be  content  with  the  portion  God 
hath  given  us.    2.  Not  to  be  covetous  of  other  men's  goods. 

They  sin  against  this  commandment,  1.  That  envy  the 
prosperity  of  other  men.  2.  They  that  desire  passionately 
to  be  possessed  of  what  is  their  neighbour's.  3.  They  that 
with  greediness  pursue  riches,  honours,  pleasures,  and  cu- 
riosities. 4.  They  that  are  too  careful,  troubled,  distracted, 
or  amazed,  aflrighted  and  afflicted  with  being  solicitous  in 
the  conduct  of  temporal  blessings. 

These  are  the  general  lines  of  duty,  by  which  we  may 
discover  our  failings,  and  be  humbled,  and  confess  accord- 
ingly ;  only  the  penitent  person  is  to  remember,  that  al- 
though these  are  the  kinds  of  sins  described  after  the  sense 
of  the  Jewish  church,  Avhich  consisted  principally  in  the  ex- 
ternal action,  or  the  deed  done,  and  had  no  restraints  upon 
the  thoughts  of  men,  save  only  in  the  tenth  commandment, 
which  was  mixed,  and  did  relate  as  much  to  action  as  to 
thought ;  (as  appears  in  the  instances ;)  yet  upon  us  Chris- 
tians there  are  many  circumstances  and  degrees  of  obliga- 
tion, which  endear  our  duty  with  greater  severity  and  ob- 
servation ;  and  the  penitent  is  to  account  of  himself  and 
enumerate  his  sins,  not  only  by  external  actions,  or  the  deed 
done,  but  by  words  and  by  thoughts ;  and  so  to  reckon,  if 
he  have  done  it  directly  or  indirectly,  if  he  have  caused 
others  to  do  it,  by  tempting  or  encouraging,  by  assisting  or 
counselling,  by  not  dissuading  when  he  could  and  ought, 
by  fortifying  their  hands  or  hearts,  or  not  weakening  their 
evil  purposes  :  if  he  have  designed  or  contrived  its  action, 
desired  it  or  loved  it,  delighted  in  the  thought,  remember- 
ed the  past  sin  with  pleasure  or  without  sorrow  ;  these  are 
the  by-ways  of  sin,  and  the  crooked  lanes,  in  which  a  man 
may  wander  and  be  lost,  as  certainly  as  in  the  broad  high- 
ways of  iniquity. 

But  besides  this,  our  blessed  Lord  and  his  apostles  have 
added  divers  other  precepts  ;  some  of  which  have  been  with 
some  violence  reduced  to  the  decalogue,  and  others  have 
not  been  noted  at  all  in  the  catalogues  of  confession.  I  shall 
therefore  describe  them  entirely,  that  the  sick  man  may 
discover  his  failings,  that,  by  the  mercies  of  God  in  Jesus 
Christ,  and  by  the  instrument  of  repentance,  he  may  be 
presented  pure  and  spotless  before  the  throne  of  God. 


SPKCIAL  PRECEPTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  157 

The  special  Precepts  of  the  Gospel, 
1.  Prayer,  frequent,  fervent,  holy,  and  persevering.*  2. 
Faith.''  3.  Repentance.'^  4.  Poverty  of  spirit,  as  opposed 
to  ambition  and  high  designs.**  5.  And  in  it  is  humility,  or 
sitting  down  in  the  lowest  place,  and  in  giving  honour  to 
go  before  another.^  6.  Meekness,  as  it  is  opposed  to  way- 
wardness, fretfulness,  immoderate  grieving,  disdain  and 
scorn. ^  7.  Contempt  of  the  world.  8.  Prudence,  or  the 
advantageous  conduct  of  religion.^  9.  Simplicity,  or  sin- 
cerity in  words  and  actions,  pretences  and  substances. = 
10.  Hope.'"  11.  Hearing  the  word.'  12.  Reading.''  13. 
Assembling  together.'  14.  Obeying  them  that  have  the 
rule  over  us  in  spiritual  affairs."  15.  Refusing  to  commu- 
nicate with  persons  excommunicate  ;°  whither  also  may  be 
reduced,  to  reject  heretics."  16.  Charity  f  viz.  Love  to 
God  above  all  things ;  brotherly  kindness,  or  profitable 
love  to  our  neighbours  as  ourselves,  to  be  expressed  in 
alms,*!  forgiveness,"^  and  to  die  for  our  brethren.'  17.  To 
pluck  the  right  eye,  or  violently  to  rescind  all  occasions  of 
sin,  though  dear  to  us  as  an  eye.'  18.  To  reprove  our  err- 
ing brother."  19.  To  be  patient  in  afflictions;"  and  long- 
animity is  referred  hither,  or  long  sufferance  ;'''  which  is  the 
perfection  and  perseverance  of  patience,  and  is  opposed  to 
hastiness  and  weariness  of  spirit.  20.  To  be  thankful  to 
our  benefactors  ;  but  above  all,  in  all  things,  to  give  thanks 
to  God.^  21.  To  rejoice  in  the  Lord  always.^  22.  Not 
to  quench,^  not  to  grieve,*  not  to  resist  the  Spirit.*"  23. 
To  love  our  wives  as  Christ  loved  his  church,  and  to  re- 
verence our  husbands."  24.  To  provide  for  our  families."* 
25.  Not  to  be  bitter  to  our  children.^  26.  To  bring  them 
up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord/     27.  Not 

a  1  Thess.  V.  17.     Lukexviii.l.  6  Mark  xvi.  16.  c  Luke 

xiii.  3.     Acts  iii.  19.  d  Matt.  v.  3.  e  Luke  xiv.  10.     John 

xiii.  14.  /"Matt.  v.  5.    Col.  iii.  12.  g^Matt.  x.  16.    1  Thess. 

V.  8.  h  Rom.  viii.  24.  i  Luke  xvi.  29.     Mark  iv.  24.  h  1 

Tim.  iv.  13.  I  Heb.  x.  25.  m  Heb.  xiii.  17.  Matt,  xviii.  17. 

n2  Thess.  iii.  6.     2  Ep.  John  x.  0  Titus  iii.  10.  p  Coles, 

iii.  14.     1  Tim.  i.  5.     2  Tim.  ii.  22.  q  Mark  xii.  30.         r  Matt, 

vi.  J  4.  si  John  iii.  16.  t  Matt,  xviii.  9.  u  Matt,  xviii. 

15.  V  James  i.  4.   Luke  xxi.  19.  lo  Heb.  xii.  3.   Gal.  vi.  9. 

X  Eph.  v.  20.     2  Thess.  i.  3.     Luke  vi.  32.      2  Tim.  iii.  2.  y  1 

Thess.  V.  16.     Philip,  iii.  1.  and  iv.  4.         z\  Thess.  v.  19-         a  Eph. 
iv.  30.  6  Acts  vii.  51.  c  Ephes.  v.  33.  d  1  Tim.  v.  8. 

e  Coloss.  iii.  2L  /  Ephes.  vi.  4, 

0  2  R 


158  THE  SPECIAL  PRECEPTS 

to  despise  prophesying.^  28.  To  be  gentle,  and  easy  to  he 
entreated.''  29.  To  give  no  scandal  or  offence.'  30.  To 
follow  after  peace  with  all  men,  and  to  make  peace.*"  31. 
Not  to  go  to  law  before  the  unbelievers.'  32.  To  do  all 
things  that  are  of  good  report,  or  the  actions  of  public 
honesty  f  abstaining  from  all  appearances  of  evil."  33. 
To  convert  souls,  or  turn  sinners  from  the  error  of  their 
ways."  34.  To  confess  Christ  before  all  the  world.^  35. 
To  resist  unto  blood  if  God  calls  us  to  it.""  36.  To  rejoice 
in  tribulation  for  Christ's  sake.'  37.  To  remember  and 
show  forth  the  Lord's  death  till  his  second  coming,'  by 
celebrating  the  Lord's  supper.*  38.  To  believe  all  the  New 
Testament."  39.  To  add  nothing  to  St.  John's  last  book, 
that  is,  to  pretend  to  no  new  revelations."  40.  To  keep  the 
customs  of  the  church,  her  festivals  and  solemnities ;  lest 
we  be  reproved,  as  the  Corinthians  were  by  St.  Paul. 
"  We  have  no  such  customs,  nor  the  churches  of  God."" 
41.  To  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith.^  Not  to  be  con- 
tentious in  matters  not  concerning  the  eternal  interest  of 
our  souls :  but  in  matters  indifferent  to  have  faith  to  our- 
selves.'' 42.  Not  to  make  schisms  or  divisions  in  the 
body  of  the  church.''  43.  To  call  no  man  master  upon  eartli, 
but  to  acknowledge  Christ  our  master  and  lawgiver.'  44. 
Not  to  domineer  over  the  Lord's  heritage.''  45.  To  try  all 
things,  and  keep  that  which  is  best.*"  46.  To  be  temperate 
in  all  things.*^  47.  To  deny  ourselves.^  48.  To  mortify  our 
lusts  and  their  instruments.^  49.  To  lend,  looking  for  nothing 
again,  nothing  by  way  of  increase,  nothing  by  way  of  recom- 
pense.^ 50.  To  watch  and  stand  in  readiness  against  the 
coming  of  the  Lord.**  51.  Not  to  be  angry  without  cause.* 
52.  Not  at  all  to  revile.""  53.  Not  to  swear.'  54.  Not  to  re- 
spect persons.""  55.  To  lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man." 
[This  especially  pertains  to  bishops  :  to  whom  also,  and  to 

g  1  Thess.  V.  20.  h  2  Tim.  ii.  24.         i  Matt,  xviii.  7.    1  Cor. 

X.  32.  k  Heb.  xii.  14.  I  1  Cor.  vi.  1.  m  Philip,  iv.  8.  2  Cor. 
viii.  21.  71  1  Thess.  v.  22.  o  James  v.  19,  20.  p  Matt.  x.  32. 
q  Heb.  xii.  4.  r  Matt.  v.  12.    James  i.  2.  s  Luke  xxii.  19. 

1 1  Cor.  xi.  26.  u  John  xx.  30,  31.  Acts  iii.  23.  Mark  i.  1.    Luke 

X.  16.  V  Rev.  xxii.  18.  w  1  Cor.  xi.  16.  x  Jude  3.  y  Rom. 
xiv.  13,  22.        z  Rom.  xvi.  17.  a  Matt,  xxiii.  8—10.        b  1  Pet. 

V.  3.  c  1  John  iv.  1.  1  Thess.  v.  21.  dl  Cor.  ix.  25.  Tit.  ii.  2. 
e  Matt.  xvi.  24.  /Col.  iii.  5.  Rom.  viii.  13.  g  Luke  vi.  34,  3.5. 
h  Matt.  xxiv.  42.         i  Matt.  v.  22.  k  1  Cor.  vi.  10.  I  Matt.  v. 

34.  m  James  ii.  1.  n  1  Tim.  v.  22. 


OF  THE  GOSPEL.  159 

all  ecclesiastical  order,  it  is  enjoined,  that  they  preach  the 
word,"  that  they  be  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season,  that 
they  rebuke,  reprove,  exhort  with  all  long-suflcring  and  doc- 
trine.] 56.  To  keep  the  Lord's  day,  (derived  into  an  obli- 
jration  from  a  practice  apostolical.)  57.  To  do  all  things 
to  the  glory  of  God.^  58.  To  hunger  and  thirst  after  righ- 
teousness and  its  rewards.''  59.  To  avoid  foolish  ques- 
tions." 60.  To  pray  for  persecutors,  and  to  do  good  to  them 
that  persecute  us,  and  despitefully  use  us.*  61.  To  pray  for 
all  men.'  62.  To  maintain  good  works  for  necessary  uses." 
63.  To  work  with  our  own  hands,  that  we  be  not  burden- 
some to  others,  avoiding  idleness.''  64.  To  be  perfect,  as  our 
heavenly  Father  is  perfect."^  65.  To  be  liberal  and  frugal ; 
for  he  that  will  call  us  to  account  for  our  time,  will  also  for 
the  spending  our  money.^  66.  Not  to  use  uncomely  jest- 
ings.^'  67.  Modesty  ;  as  opposed  to  boldness,  to  curiosity, 
to  indecency.^  68,  To  be  swift  to  hear,  slow  to  speak.* 
69.  To  worship  the  holy  Jesus  at  the  mention  of  his  holy 
name  ;  as  of  old  God  was  at  the  mention  of  Jehovah.'' 

These  are  the  straight  lines  of  Scripture  by  which  we 
may  also  measure  our  obliquities,  and  discover  our  crooked 
walking.  If  the  sick  man  hath  not  done  these  things,  or 
if  he  have  done  contrary  to  any  of  them,  in  any  particular, 
he  hath  cause  enough  for  his  sorrow,  and  matter  for  his  con- 
fession ;  of  which  he  needs  no  other  forms,  but  that  he 
heartily  deplore  and  plainly  enumerate  his  follies,  as  a  man 
tells  the  sad  stories  of  his  own  calamity. 

SECTION  IX. 

Of  the  Sick  Mart's  Practice  of  Charity  and  Justice, 
by  way  of  Rule. 

1.  Let  the  sick  man  set  his  house  in  order  before  he  die  ; 
state  his  cases  of  conscience,  reconcile  the  fractures  of  his 
family,  reunite  brethren,  cause  right  understandings,  and 
remove  jealousies  :  give  good  counsels  for  the  future  con- 
duct of  their  persons  and  estates,  charm  them  into  religion 
by  the  authority  and  advantages  of  a  dying  person  ;  be- 
cause the  last  words  of  a  dying  man  are  like  the  tooth  of  a 

0  2  Tim.  iv.  2.  p\  Cor.  x.  31.  q  Matt.  v.  6.  r  Tit.  iii.  9. 
s  Matt.  V.  44.  Rom.  xii.  14.  t  1  Tim.  ii.  1.  u  Titus,  iii.  14. 

V  Ephes.  iv.  28.  w  Matt.  v.  48.  x  1  Pet.  iii.  8.    2  Pet.  i.  6, 

7.  2  Cor.  viii.  7.  ix.  5.         y  Ephes.  v.  4.         z  \  Tim.  ii.  9.       a  James 
i.  19.  h  Phil.  ii.  10. 


160  THE  PRACTICE  OF  CHARITY 

wounded  lion,  making  a  deeper  impression  in  the  agony, 
than  in  the  most  vigorous  strength. 

2.  Let  the  sick  man  discover  every  secret  of  art,  or 
profit,  physic,  or  advantage  to  mankind,  if  he  may  do  it 
without  the  prejudice  of  a  third  person.  Some  persons  arc 
so  uncharitably  envious,  that  they  are  willing,  that  a  secret 
receipt  should  die  with  them,  and  be  buried  in  their  grave 
like  treasure  in  the  sepulchre  of  David.  But  this,  which 
is  a  design  of  charity,  must  therefore  not  be  done  to  any 
man's  prejudice  ;  and  the  mason  of  Herodotus,  the  king 
of  Egypt,  who  kept  secret  his  notice  of  the  king's  treasure, 
and  when  he  was  dying,  told  his  son,  betrayed  his  trust 
then,  when  he  should  have  kept  it  most  sacredly  for  his 
own  interest.  In  all  other  cases  let  thy  charity  outlive 
Ihee,  that  thou  mayest  rejoice  in  the  mansion  of  rest,  be- 
cause,  by  thy  means,  many  living  persons  are  eased  or  ad- 
vantaged. 

3.  Let  him  make  his  will  with  great  justice  and  piety ; 
that  is,  that  the  right  heirs  be  not  defrauded  for  collateral 
respects,  fancies,  or  indirect  fondnesses ;  but  the  inherit- 
ances descend  in  their  legal  and  due  channel ;  and  in  those 
things,  where  we  have  a  liberty,  that  we  take  the  opportunity 
of  doing  virtuously,  that  is,  of  considering  how  God  may 
be  best  served  by  our  donatives,  or  how  the  interest  of 
any  virtue  may  be  promoted  ;  in  which  we  are  principally 
to  regard  the  necessities  of  our  nearest  kindred  and  rela- 
tives, servants  and  friends. 

4.  Let  the  will  or  testament  be  made  with  ingenuity, 
openness,  and  plain  expression,  that  he  may  not  entail  a 
lawsuit  upon  his  posterity  and  relatives,  and  make  them 
lose  their  charity,  or  entangle  their  estates,  or  make  them 
poorer  by  the  gift.  He  hath  done  me  no  charity,  but  dies 
in  my  debt,  that  makes  me  sue  for  a  legacy. 

5.  It  is  proper  for  the  state  of  sickness,  and  an  excellent 
anealing  us  to  burial,  that  we  give  alms  in  this  state,  so 
burying  treasure  in  our  graves  that  will  not  perish,  but 
rise  again  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just.  Let  the  dispen- 
sation of  our  alms  be  as  little  intrusted  to  our  executors  as 
may  be,  excepting  the  lasting  and  successive  portions ; 
but,  with  our  present  care,  let  us  exercise  the  charity,  and 
secure  the  stewardship.  It  was  a  custom  amongst  the  old 
Greeks,  to  bury  horses,  clothes,  arms,  and  whatsoever  was 
dear  to  the  deceased  person,  supposing  they  might  need 


AND  JUSTICE  IN  SICKNESS.  161 

them,  and  that,  without  clothes,  they  should  be  found 
naked  by  tlicir  judges ;  and  all  the  friends  did  use  to  bring- 
gifts,  by  such  liberality  thinking  to  promote  the  interest  of 
their  dead.  But  we  may  offer  our  ivrx(^>x  ourselves  best 
of  all ;  our  doles  and  funeral  meals,  if  they  be  our  own 
early  provisions,  will  then  spend  the  better;  and  it  is  good 
so  to  carry  our  passing  penny  in  our  hand,  and  by  reaching 
that  hand  to  the  poor,  make  a  friend  in  the  everlasting  ha- 
bitations, lie  that  gives  with  his  own  hand,  shall  be  sure 
to  find  it,  and  the  poor  shall  find  it ;  but  he  that  trusts  exe- 
cutors Avith  his  charity,  and  the  economy  and  issues  of 
his  virtue,  by  which  he  must  enter  into  his  hopes  of  heaven 
and  pardon,  shall  find  but  an  ill  account,  when  his  execu- 
tors complain  he  died  poor.  Think  on  this.  To  this  pur- 
pose, wise  and  pious  was  the  counsel  of  Salvian :  "  Let 
a  dying  man,  who  hath  nothing  else,of  which  he  may  make 
an  effective  oblation,  offer  up  to  God  of  his  substance  ;  let 
him  offer  it  with  compunction  and  tears,  with  grief  and 
mourning,  as  knowing  that  all  our  oblations  have  their 
value,  not  by  the  price,  but  by  the  affection  ;  and  it  is  our  faith 
that  commendeth  the  money,  since  God  receives  the  money 
by  the  hands  of  the  poor,  but  at  the  same  time  gives,  and 
does  not  take  the  blessing ;  because  he  receives  nothing 
but  his  own,  and  man  gives  that  which  is  none  of  his  own, 
that  of  which  he  is  only  a  steward,  and  shall  be  accountable 
for  every  shilling.  Let  it  therefore  be  offered  humbly,  as 
a  creditor  pays  his  debts  :  not  magnifically,  as  a  prince 
gives  a  donative  ;  and  let  him  remember  that  such  doles 
do  not  pay  for  the  sin,  but  they  ease  the  punishment;  they 
are  not  proper  instruments  of  redemption,  but  instances  of 
supplication,  and  advantages  of  prayer;  and  when  we  have 
done  well,  remember  that  we  have  not  paid  our  debt,  but 
shown  our  willingness  to  give  a  little  of  the  vast  sum  we 
owe ;  and  he  that  gives  plentifully  according  to  the  mea- 
sure of  his  estate,  is  still  behind-hand  according  to  the 
measure  of  his  sins.  Let  him  pray  to  God  that  this  late  obla- 
tion may  be  accepted  ;  and  so  it  will,  if  it  sails  to  him  in  a  sea 
of  penitential  tears  or  sorrows  that  it  is  so  little,  and  that  it 
is  so  late." 

6.  Let  the  sick  man's  charity  be  so  ordered,  that  it  may 

not  come  only  to  deck  the  funeral  and  make  up  the  pomp ; 

charity  waiting  like  one  of  the  solemn  mourners;  but  let 

it  be  continued,  that,  besides  the  alms  of  health  and  sick- 

o2  2  r2 


162  THE  PRACTICE  OF  CHARITY. 

ness,  there  may  be  a  rejoicing  in  God  for  his  charity  long" 
after  his  funerals,  so  as  to  become  more  beneficial  and  less 
public ;  that  the  poor  may  pray  in  private,  and  give  God 
thanks  many  days  together.  This  is  matter  of  prudence, 
and  yet  in  this  we  are  to  observe  the  same  regards,  which 
Ave  had  in  the  charity  and  alms  of  our  lives ;  with  this  only 
difference,  that,  in  the  funeral  alms  also  of  rich  and  able 
persons,  the  public  customs  of  the  church  are  to  be  observ- 
ed and  decency  and  solemnity,  and  the  expectations  of  the 
poor,  and  matter  of  public  opinion,  and  the  reputation  of 
religion;  in  all  other  cases,  let  thy  charity  consult  withhu- 
mility  and  prudence,  that  it  never  minister  at  all  to  vanity, 
but  be  as  full  of  advantage  and  usefulness  as  it  may. 

7.  Every  man  will  forgive  a  dying  person  ;  and  therefore 
let  the  sick  man  be  ready  and  sure,  if  he  can,  to  send  to 
such  persons,  whom  he  hath  injured,  and  beg  their  pardon, 
and  do  them  right;  for,  in  his  case,  he  cannot  stay  for 
an  opportunity  of  convenient  and  advantageous  recon- 
cilement ;  he  cannot  then  spin  out  a  treaty,  nor  beat  down 
the  price  of  composition,  nor  lay  a  snare  to  be  quit  from 
the  obligation  and  coercion  of  laws ;  but  he  must  ask  for- 
giveness downright,  and  make  him  amends  as  he  can, 
being  greedy  of  making  use  of  this  opportunity  of  doing  a 
duty,  that  must  be  done,  but  cannot  any  more,  if  not  now, 
until  time  returns  again,  and  tells  the  minutes  backwards, 
so  that  yesterday  shall  be  reckoned  in  the  portions  of  the 
future. 

8.  In  the  intervals  of  sharper  pains,  when  the  sick  man 
amasses  together  all  the  arguments  of  comfort  and  testimo- 
nies of  God's  love  to  him,  and  care  of  him,  he  must  needs 
find  infinite  matter  of  thanksgiving  and  glorification  of  God; 
and  it  is  a  proper  act  of  charity  and  love  to  God,  and  jus- 
tice too,  that  he  do  honour  to  God  on  his  death-bed  for 
all  the  blessings  of  his  life,  not  only  in  general  communi- 
cations, but  those  by  which  he  hath  been  separate  and  dis- 
cerned from  others,  or  supported  and  blessed  in  his  own 
person :  such  as  are,  "  In  all  my  life-time  I  never  broke  a 
bone ;  I  never  fell  into  the  hands  of  robbers,  never  into 
public  shame,  or  into  noisome  diseases;  I  have  not  begged 
my  bread,  nor  been  tempted  by  great  and  unequal  for- 
tunes; God  gave  me  a  good  understanding,  good  friends, 
or  delivered  me  in  such  a  danger  ;  and  heard  my  prayers 
in  such  particular  pressures  of  my  spirit."     This  or  the 


AND  JUSTICE  IN  SFCKNKSS.  X63 

like  enumeration  and  consequent  acts  of  thanksgiving  are 
apt  to  produce  love  to  God,  and  confidence  in  the  day  of 
trial;  for  he  that  gave  me  blessings  in  proportion  to  the 
state  and  capacities  of  my  life,  I  hope  also  will  do  so  in 
proportion  to  the  needs  of  my  sickness  and  my  death-bed. 
This  we  find  practised,  as  a  most  reasonable  piece  of  piety, 
by  the  wisest  of  the  heathens.  So  Antipater  Tarsenis 
gave  God  thanks  for  his  prosperous  voyage  into  Greece  ; 
and  Cyrus  made  a  handsotne  prayer  upon  the  tops  of  the 
mountains,  when  by  a  fantasm  he  was  warned  of  his  ap- 
proaching death.  "Receive,  O  God  my  father,  these  holy 
rites,  by  which  I  put  an  end  to  many  and  great  aflfairs, 
and  I  give  thee  thanks  for  thy  celestial  signs  and  prophetic 
notices,  whereby  thou  hast  signified  to  me  what  I  ought 
to  do,  and  what  I  ought  not.  I  present  also  very  great 
thanks  that  I  have  received  and  acknowledged  your  care 
of  me,  and  I  have  never  exalted  myself  above  my  condition 
for  any  prosperous  accident.  And  I  pray  that  you  will 
grant  felicity  to  my  wife,  my  children,  and  friends,  and  to 
me  a  death  such  as  my  life  hath  been."  But  that  of  Phi- 
lagrius,  in  Gregory  Nazianzen,  is  eucharistical,  but  it  re- 
lates more  especially  to  the  blessings  and  advantages  which 
are  accidentally  consequent  to  sickness.  "  I  thank  thee, 
O  Father,  and  maker  of  all  thy  children,  that  thou  art 
pleased  to  bless  and  to  sanctify  us  even  against  our  wills, 
and  by  the  outward  man  purgest  the  inward,  and  leadest 
us  through  cross-ways  to  a  blessed  ending,  for  reasons  best 
known  unto  thee."  However,  when  we  go  from  our  hos- 
pital and  place  of  little  intermedial  rest  in  our  journey  to 
heaven,  it  is  fit  that  we  give  thanks  to  the  Major-domo  for 
our  entertainment.  When  these  parts  of  religion  are 
finished,  according  to  each  man's  necessity,  there  is  no- 
thing remaining  of  personal  duty  to  be  done  alone,  but 
that  the  sick  man  act  over  these  virtues  by  the  renewings 
of  devotion,  and  in  the  way  of  prayer;  and  that  is  to  be 
continued  as  long  as  life,  and  voice,  and  reason,  dwell 
with  us. 

SECTION  X. 

Acts  of  Charity^  by  way  of  prayer  and  Ejaculation  ;  which 
may  also  he  vsedfor  Thanksgiving,  in  case  of  Recovery. 
O  MY  soul,  thou  hast  said  unto  the  Lord,  Thou  art  my 

Lord  ;   my  goodness   extendeth  not  to  thee  ;    but  to  the 


164  THE  PRACTICE  OF  CHARITY 

saints,  that  are  in  the  earth,  and  to  the  expedient,  in  whom 
is  all  my  delight.  The  Lord  is  the  portion  of  my  inherit- 
ance and  of  my  cup :  thou  maintainest  my  lot.  Psal.  xvi. 
2,  3.  5. 

As  for  God,  his  way  is  perfect :  the  way  of  the  Lord  is 
tried  :  he  is  a  buckler  to  all  those  that  trust  in  him.  For 
who  is  God,  except  the  Lord  ?  or  who  is  a  rock,  save  our 
God  ?  It  is  God  that  girdeth  me  with  strength,  and  maketh 
my  way  perfect.  Psal  xviii.  30 — 32. 

Be  not  thou  far  from  me,  O  Lord :  O  my  strength,  haste 
thee  to  help  me.  Psal.  xxii.  19. 

Deliver  my  soul  from  the  sword,  my  darling  from  the 
power  of  the  dog.  Save  me  from  the  lion's  mouth  :  and 
thou  hast  heard  me  also  from  among  the  horns  of  the  uni- 
corns. Ver.  20,  21. 

I  will  declare  thy  name  unto  my  brethren :  in  the  midst 
of  the  congregation  will  I  praise  thee.     Ver.  22. 

Ye  that  fear  the  Lord,  praise  the  Lord :  ye  sons  of  God, 
glorify  him,  and  fear  before  him,  all  ye  sons  of  men.  For 
he  hath  not  despised  nor  abhorred  the  affliction  of  the  af- 
flicted, neither  hath  he  hid  his  face  from  him ;  but  when 
he  cried  unto  him,  he  heard.     Ver.  23,  24. 

As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water-brooks,  so  longeth 
my  soul  after  thee,  O  God.     Psal.  xlii.  1. 

My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  for  the  living  God:  when 
shall  I  come  and  appear  before  the  Lord  ?     Vfer.  2. 

0  my  God,  my  soul  is  cast  down  within  me.  All  thy 
waves  and  billows  are  gone  over  me.  As  with  a  sword  in 
my  bones  I  am  reproached.  Yet  the  Lord  will  command 
his  loving  kindness  in  the  day  time ;  and  in  the  night  his 
song  shall  be  with  me,  and  my  prayer  unto  the  God  of  my 
life.   Ver.  6— 8.  10. 

Bless  ye  the  Lord  in  the  congregations;  even  the  Lord 
from  the  fountains  of  Israel.  Psal.  Ixvii.  25. 

My  mouth  shall  show  forth  thy  righteousness  and  thy 
salvation  all  the  day  ;  for  I  know  not  the  numbers  thereof. 
Psal.  Ixxi.  15. 

1  will  go  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  God  :  I  will  make 
mention  of  thy  righteousness,  even  of  thine  only.  O  God, 
thou  hast  taught  me  from  my  youth ;  and  hitherto  have  I 
declared  thy  wondrous  works.  But  I  will  hope  continually, 
and  will  yet  praise  thee  more  and  more.  Ver.  16,  17.  14. 

Thy  righteousness,  O  God,  is  very  high,  who   hast  done 


AND  JUSTICE  IN  SICKNESS.  165 

great  things.  O  God,  who  is  like  unto  thcc?  Thou  whicli 
hast  showed  me  great  and  sore  troubles,  shalt  quicken  me 
again,  and  shalt  bring  me  up  again  from  the  depths  of  the 
earth.     Ver.  19,  29. 

Thou  shalt  increase  thy  goodness  towards  me,  and  com- 
fort me  on  every  side.     Ver.  21. 

My  lips  shall  greatly  rejoice  when  I  sing  unto  thee  :  and 
my  soul,  which  thou  hast  redeemed.  Blessed  be  the  Lord 
God,  the  God  of  Israel,  who  only  doth  wondrous  things. 
And  blessed  be  his  glorious  name  for  ever ;  and  let  the 
whole  earth  be  filled  with  his  glory.  Amen.  Amen.  Ver.  23. 
Psal.  Ixxii.  18,  19. 

I  love  the  Lord  because  he  hath  heard  my  voice  and  my 
supplication.  T'he  sorrows  of  death  compassed  me :  I 
found  trouble  and  sorrow.  Then  called  I  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord ;  O  Lord,  I  beseech  thee,  deliver  my  soul.  Gra- 
cious is  the  Lord  and  righteous;  yea,  our  God  is  merciful. 
Psal.  cxvi.  1.  3—5. 

The  Lord  preserveth  the  simple  ;  I  was  brought  low,  and 
he  helped  me.  Return  to  thy  rest,  O  my  soul :  the  Lord 
hath  dealt  bountifully  with  me.  For  thou  hast  delivered 
mv  soul  from  death,  mine  eyes  from  tears,  and  mv  feet  from 
failing.     Ver.  6—8. 

Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  is  the  death  of  his 
saints.  O  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant :  I  am  thy  servant, 
and  the  son  of  thine  handmaid  ;  thou  shalt  loose  my  bonds. 
Ver.  15,  16. 

He  that  loveth  not  the  Lord  Jesus,  let  him  be  accursed. 
1  Cor.  xvi.  22. 

O  that  I  might  love  thee  as  well  as  ever  any  creature 
loved  thee  !  He  that  dwelleth  in  love,  dwelleth  in  God. 
There  is  no  fear  in  love.  1  John  iv.  16,  18. 

The  Prayer. 
O  most  gracious  and  eternal  God  and  loving  Father, 
who  hast  poured  out  thy  bowels  upon  us,  and  sent  the  Son 
of  thy  love  unto  us  to  die  for  love,  and  to  make  us  dwel. 
in  love,  and  the  eternal  comprehensions  of  thy  Divine 
mercies;  O  be  pleased  to  inflame  my  heart  with  a  holy 
charity  towards  thee  and  all  the  world.  Lord,  I  forgive  all 
that  ever  have  offended  me,  and  beg,  that  both  they  and  I 
may  enter  into  the  possession  of  thy  mercies,  and  feel  a 
gracious  pardon  from  the  same  fountain  of  grace  ;  and  do 


166  THE  MANNER  OF  VISITATION 

thou  forgive  me  all  the  acts  of  scandal,  whereby  I  have 
provoked,  or  tempted,  or  lessened,  or  disturbed  any  person. 
Lord,  let  me  never  have  any  portion  amongst  those  that  di- 
vide the  union,  and  disturb  the  peace,  and  break  the  chari- 
ties of  the  church,  and  Christian  communion.  And  though 
I  am  fiillen  into  evil  times  in  which  Christendom  is  divided 
by  the  names  of  an  evil  division ;  yet  I  am  in  charity  with 
all  Christians,  with  all  that  love  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  long 
for  his  coming,  and  1  would  give  my  life  to  save  the  soul 
of  any  of  my  brethren ;  and  I  humbly  beg  of  thee,  that 
the  public  calamity  of  the  several  societies  of  the  church 
may  not  be  imputed  to  mv  soul,  to  any  evil  purposes. 
IL 
Lord,  preserve  me  in  the  unity  of  thy  holy  church,  in  the 
love  of  God  and  of  my  neighbours.  Let  thy  grace  enlarge 
my  heart  to  remember,  dcc})]y  to  resent,  faithfully  to  use, 
v/isely  to  improve,  and  humbly  to  give  thanks  to  thee  for 
all  tJiy  favours,  with  which  thou  hast  enriched  my  soul,  and 
supported  my  estate,  and  preserved  my  person,  and  rescued 
me  from  danger,  and  invited  me  to  goodness  in  all  the  days 
and  periods  of  my  life.  Thou  hast  led  me  through  it  with 
an  excellent  conduct ;  and  I  have  gone  astray  after  the  man- 
ner of  men  ;  but  my  heart  is  towards  thee.  O  do  unto  thy 
servant,  as  thou  usest  to  do  unto  those  that  love  thy  name  ; 
let  thy  truth  comfort  me  ;  thy  mercy  deliver  me  ;  thy  staff 
support  me  ;  thy  grace  sanctify  my  sorrow ;  and  thy  good- 
ness pardon  all  my  sins  ;  thy  angels  guide  me  with  safety 
in  this  shadow  of  death,  and  thy  most  Holy  Spirit  lead  me 
into  the  land  of  righteousness,  for  thy  name's  sake,  which 
is  so  comfortable,  and  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  our  dearest 
Lord  and  most  gracious  Saviour.     Amen. 

CHAPTER  V 

OF  VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK  :  OR,  THE  ASSISTANCE  THAT 
IS  TO  BE  DONE  TO  DYING  PERSONS  BY  THE  MINISTRY 
OF    THEIR    CLERGY    GUIDES. 

SECTION  L 
God,  who  hath  made  no  new  covenant  with  dying  persons 
distinct  from  the  covenant  of  the  living,  hath  also  appointed 
no  distinct  sacraments  for  them,  no  other  manner  of  usages 
but  such  as  are  common  to  all  the  spiritual  necessities  of 
living  and  healthful  persons.     In  all  the  days  of  our  reli- 


OF  SICK  PERSONS.  ]  57 

gion,from  our  baptism  to  the  resignation  and  delivery  of 
our  soul,  God  hath  appointed  his  servants  to  minister  to 
the  necessities,  and  eternally  to  bless,  and  prudently  to 
guide,  and  wisely  to  judge  concerning  souls  ;  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  that  anointing  from  above,  descends  upon  us  in 
several  effluxes,  but  ever  by  the  ministries  of  the  church. 
Our  heads  are  anointed  with  that  sacred  unction,  baptism 
(not  in  ceremony,  but  in  real  and  proper  effect,)  our  fore- 
heads in  confirmation,  our  hands  in  ordinations,  all  our 
senses  in  the  visitation  of  the  sick ;  and  all  by  the  ministry 
of  especially-deputed  and  instructed  persons  :  and  we,  who 
all  our  lifetime  derive  blessings  from  the  fountains  of  grace, 
by  the  channels  of  ecclesiastical  ministries,  must  do  it 
then  especially,  when  our  needs  are  most  pungent  and 
actual.  1.  We  cannot  give  up  our  names  to  Christ,  but 
the  holy  man,  that  ministers  in  religion,  must  enrol  them, 
and  present  the  persons,  and  consign  the  grace  ;  when 
we  beg  for  God's  Spirit,  the  minister  can  best  present  our 
prayers,  and  by  his  advocation  hallow  our  private  de- 
sires, and  turn  them  into  public  and  potent  offices.  2.  If 
we  desire  to  be  established  and  confirmed  in  the  grace  and 
religion  of  our  baptism,  the  holy  man,  whose  hands  were 
anointed  by  a  special  ordination  to  that  and  its  symbolical 
purposes,  laye  his  hands  upon  the  catechumen,  and  the 
anointing  from  above  descends  by  that  ministry.  3.  If 
we  would  eat  the  body  and  drink  the  blood  of  our  Lord, 
we  must  address  ourselves  to  the  Lord's  table,  and  he  that 
stands  there  to  bless  and  to  minister,  can  reach  it  forth, 
and  feed  thy  soul ;  and  without  his  ministry  thou  canst  not 
be  nourished  with  that  heavenly  feast,  nor  thy  body  con- 
signed to  immortality,  nor  thy  soul  refreshed  with  the  sa- 
cramental bread  from  heaven,  except  by  spiritual  supple- 
tories,  in  cases  of  necessity  and  an  impossible  communion. 
4.  If  we  have  committed  sins,  the  spiritual  man  is  ap- 
pointed  to  restore  us,  and  to  pray  for  us,  and  to  receive 
our  confessions,  and  to  inquire  into  our  wounds,  and  to  in- 
fuse  oil  and  remedy,  and  to  pronounce  pardon.  5.  If  we 
be  cut  off  from  the  communion  of  the  faithful  by  our  own 
demerits,  their  holy  hands  must  reconcile  us  and  give 
us  peace ;  they  are  our  appointed  comforters,  our  instruc- 
tors, our  ordinary  judges ;  and  in  the  whole,  what  the 
children  of  Israel  begged  of  Moses,*  that  God  would 
*  Exod.  XX.  19. 


168  THE  MANNER  OF  VISITATION 

no  more  speak  to  them  alone,  but  by  his  servant  Moses, 
lest  they  should  be  consumed ;  God,  in  compliance  with 
our  infirmities,  hath  of  his  own  goodness  established  as  a 
perpetual  law  in  all  ages  of  Christianity,  that  God  will 
speak  to  us  by  his  ministers,  and  our  solemn  prayers  shall 
be  made  to  him  by  their  advocation,  and  his  blessings  de- 
scend from  heaven  by  their  hands,  and  our  offices  return 
thither  by  their  presidencies,  and  our  repentance  shall  be 
managed  by  them,  and  our  pardon  in  many  degrees  minis- 
tered by  them  ;  God  comforts  us  by  their  sermons,  and 
reproves  us  by  their  discipline,  and  cuts  off  some  by  their 
severity,  and  reconciles  others  by  their  gentleness,  and  re- 
lieves us  by  their  prayers,  and  instructs  us  by  their  dis- 
courses, and  heals  our  sicknesses  by  their  intercession  pre- 
sented to  God,  and  united  to  Christ's  advocation ;  and  in 
all  this  they  are  no  causes,  but  servants  of  the  will  of 
God,  instruments  of  the  Divine  grace  and  order,  stewards 
and  dispensers  of  the  mysteries,  and  appointed  to  our  souls 
to  serve  and  lead,  and  to  help  in  all  accidents,  dangers,  and 
necessities. 

And  they,  who  received  us  in  our  baptism,  are  also  to 
carry  us  to  our  grave,  and  to  take  care,  that  our  end  be,  as 
our  life  was,  or  should  have  been  ;  and  therefore  it  is  esta- 
blished as  an  apostolical  rule,  "Is  any  man  sick  among 
you  ?  let  him  send  for  the  elders  of  the  church,  and  let 
them  pray  over  him."*  &;c. 

The  sum  of  the  duties  and  offices,  lespectively  implied 
in  these  words,  is  in  the  following  rules. 

SECTION  11. 

Rules  for  the  manner  of  Visitation  of  Sick  Persons. 

1.  Let  the  minister  of  religion  be  sent  to  not  only  against 
the  agony  of  death,  but  be  advised  with  in  the  whole  con- 
duct of  the  sickness  :  for  in  sickness  indefinitely,  and  there- 
fore in  every  sickness,  and  therefore  in  such  which  are  not 
mortal,  which  end  in  health,  which  have  no  agony,  or  final 
temptations,  St.  James  gives  the  advice ;  and  the  sick  man, 
being  bound  to  require  them,  is  also  tied  to  do  it,  when  he 
can  know  them,  and  his  own  necessity.  It  is  a  very  great 
evil,  both  in  the  matter  of  prudence  and  piety,  that  they 
fear  the  priest,  as  they  fear  the  embalmer  or  the  sexton's 
spade  ;  and  love  not  to  converse  with  him,  unless  they  can 

*  James  v.  14. 


OF  SICK  PERSONS. 


169 


converse  with  no  man  else  ;  and  think  his  office  so  much  to 
relate  to  the  other  world,  that  he  is  not  to  be  treated  with, 
while  we  hope  to  live  in  this :  and  indeed,  that  our  religion 
be  taken  care  of  only  when  we  die  :  and  the  event  is  this 
(of  which  I  have  seen  some  sad  experience,)  that  the  man 
is  deadly  sick,  and  his  reason  is  useless,  and  he  is  laid  to 
sleep,  and  his  life  is  in  the  confines  of  the  grave,  so  that  he 
can  do  nothing  towards  the  trimming  of  his  lamp  ;  and  the 
curate  shall  say  a  few  prayers  by  him,  and  talk  to  a  dead 
man,  and  the  man  is  not  in  a  condition  to  be  helped,  but  in 
a  condition  to  need  it  hugely.  He  cannot  be  called  upon 
to  confess  his  sins,  and  he  is  not  able  to  remember  them  ; 
and  he  cannot  understand  an  advice,  nor  hear  a  free  dis- 
course, nor  be  altered  from  a  passion,  nor  cured  of  his 
fear,  nor  comforted  upon  any  grounds  of  reason  or  religion, 
and  no  man  can  tell  what  is  likely  to  be  his  fate ;  or  if  he 
does,  he  cannot  prophesy  good  things  concerning  him,  but 
evil.  Let  the  spiritual  man  come  when  the  sick  man  can 
be  conversed  withal  and  instructed,  when  he  can  take 
medicine,  and  amend,  when  he  understands,  or  can  be 
taught  to  understand  the  case  of  his  soul,  and  the  rules  of 
his  conscience  :  and  then  his  advice  may  turn  into  advan- 
tage :  it  cannot  otherwise  be  useful. 

2.  The  intercourses  of  the  minister  with  the  sick  man 
have  so  much  variety  in  them,  that  they  are  not  to  be  trans- 
acted at  once  :  and  therefore  they  do  not  well,  that  send 
once  to  see  the  good  man  with  sorrow,  and  hear  him  pray, 
and  thank  him,  ancl  dismiss  him  civilly,  and  desire  to  see 
his  face  no  more.  To  dress  a  soul  for  funeral,  is  not  a 
work  to  be  despatched  at  one  meeting  :  at  first  he  needs 
a  comfort,  and  anon  something  to  make  him  willing  to  die  ; 
and  by  and  by  he  is  tempted  to  impatience,  and  that  needs 
a  special  cure  ;  and  it  is  a  great  work  to  make  his  confes- 
sions well  and  with  advantages ;  and  it  may  be  the  man  is 
careless  and  indifferent,  and  then  he  needs  to  understand 
the  evil  of  his  sin,  and  the  danger  of  his  person  ;  and  his 
cases  of  conscience  may  be  so  many  and  so  intricate,  that 
he  is  not  quickly  to  be  reduced  to  peace,  and  one  time  the 
holy  man  must  pray,  and  another  he  must  exhort,  a  third 
time  administer  the  holy  sacrament ;  and  he  that  ought  to 
watch  all  the  periods  and  little  portions  of  his  life,  lest  he 
should  be  surprised  and  overcome,  had  need  be  watched 
when  he  is  sick,  and  assisted,  and  called  upon,  and  re- 
p  2S 


170  THE  MANNER  OF  VISITATION 

minded  of  the  several  parts  of  his  duty,  in  every  instant  of 
his  temptation.  This  article  was  well  provided  for  among 
the  Easterlings ;  for  the  priests  in  their  visitations  of  a  sick 
person  did  abide  in  their  attendance  and  ministry  for  seven 
days  together.  The  want  of  this  makes  the  visitations 
fruitless,  and  the  calling  of  the  clergy  contemptible,  while 
it  is  not  suffered  to  imprint  its  proper  effects  upon  them 
that  need  it  in  a  lasting  ministry. 

3.  St.  James  advises,  that  when  a  man  is  sick,  he  should 
send  for  the  elders  ;*  one  sick  man  for  many  presbyters, 
and  so  did  the  eastern  churches  ;  they  sent  for  seven,  and 
like  a  college  of  physicians,  they  ministered  spiritual  reme- 
dies, and  sent  up  prayers  like  a  choir  of  singing  clerks.  In 
cities  they  might  do  so,  while  the  Christians  were  few,  and 
the  priests  many.  But  when  they  that  dwelt  in  the  Pagi 
or  villages  ceased  to  be  Pagans,  and  were  baptized,  it  grew 
to  be  an  impossible  felicity,  unless  in  few  cases,  and  to 
some  more  eminent  persons :  but  because  they  need  it 
most,  God  hath  taken  care,  that  they  may  best  have  it ; 
and  they  that  can,  are  not  very  prudent,  if  they  neglect  it. 

4.  Whether  they  be  many  or  few,  that  are  sent  to  the 
sick  person,  let  the  curate  of  his  parish,  or  his  own  confes- 
sor, be  amongst  them ;  that  is,  let  him  not  be  wholly  ad- 
vised by  strangers,  who  know  not  his  particular  necessi- 
ties ;  but  he  that  is  the  ordinary  judge  cannot  safely  be 
passed  by  in  his  extraordinary  necessity,  which,  in  so  great 
portions,  depends  upon  his  whole  life  past :  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  suspicion,  when  we  decline  his  judgment,  that 
knows  us  best,  and  with  whom  we  formerly  did  converse, 
either  by  choice  or  by  law,  by  private  election  or  by  public 
constitution.  It  concerns  us  then  to  make  severe  and  pro- 
fitable judgments,  and  not  to  conspire  against  ourselves, 
or  procure  such  assistances,  which  may  handle  us  softly, 
or  comply  with  our  weakness  more  than  relieve  our  ne- 
cessities. 

5.  When  the  ministers  of  religion  are  come,  first  let  them 
do  their  ordinary  offices,  that  is,  pray  for  grace  to  the  sick 
man,  for  patience,  for  resignation,  for  health,  (if  it  seems 
good  to  God  in  order  to  his  great  end.)  For  that  is  one 
of  the  ends  of  the  advice  of  the  apostle.  And  therefore  the 
minister  is  to  be  sent  for,  not  when  the  case  is  desperate, 
but  before  the  sickness  is  come  to  its  crisis  or  period.  Let 

*  James  v.  14. 


OF  SICK  PERSONS. 


171 


him  discourse  concerning  the  causes  of  sickness,  and  by  a 
general  instrument  move  him  to  consider  concerning  his 
condition.  Let  him  call  upon  him  to  set  his  soul  in  order; 
to  trim  his  lamp  ;  to  dress  his  soul ;  to  renew  acts  of  grace 
by  way  of  prayer  ;  to  make  amends  in  all  the  evils  he  hath 
done  ;  and  to  supply  all  the  defects  of  duty,  as  much  as  his 
past  condition  requires,  and  his  present  can  admit. 

6.  According  as  the  condition  of  sickness  or  the  weakness 
of  the  man  is  observed,  so  the  exhortation  is  to  be  less,  and 
the  prayers  more,  because  the  life  of  the  man  was  his  main 
preparatory  ;  and  therefore,  if  his  condition  be  full  of  pain 
and  infirmity,  the  shortness  and  small  number  of  its  own 
acts  is  to  be  supplied  by  the  acts  of  the  ministers  and 
standers-by,  who  are,  in  such  case,  to  speak  more  to  God 
for  him  than  to  talk  to  him.  For  the  prayer  of  the  righ- 
teous,* when  it  is  fervent,  hath  a  promise  to  prevail  much 
in  behalf  of  the  sick  person.  But  exhortations  must  prevail 
with  their  own  proper  weight,  not  by  the  passion  of  the 
speaker.  But  yet  this  assistance  by  way  of  prayers  is  not 
to  be  done  by  long  offices,  but  by  frequent,  and  fervent, 
and  holy  :  in  which  offices  if  the  sick  man  joins,  let  them 
be  short,  and  apt  to  comply  with  his  little  strength  and  great 
infirmities;  if  they  be  said  in  his  behalf  without  his  con- 
junction, they  that  pray,  may  prudently  use  their  own  liberty 
and  take  no  measures,  but  their  own  devotions  and  oppor- 
tunities, and  the  sick  man's  necessities. 

When  he  hath  made  this  general  address  and  preparatory 
entrance  to  the  work  of  many  days  and  periods,  he  may  de- 
scend to  particulars  by  the  following  instruments  and  dis- 
courses. 

SECTION  III. 
Of  ministering  in  the  Sick  Man's  Confession  of  Sins 
and  Repentance. 

The  first  necessity,  that  is  to  be  served,  is  that  of  repent- 
ance, in  which  the  ministers  can  in  no  way  serve  him,  but 
by  first  exhorting  him  to  confession  of  his  sins,  and  decla- 
ration of  the  state  of  his  soul.  For  unless  they  know  the 
manner  of  his  life,  and  the  degrees  of  his  restitution,  either 
they  can  do  nothing  at  all,  or  nothing  of  advantage  and 
certainty.  His  discourses,  like  Jonathan's  arrows,  may 
shoot  short,  or  shoot  over,  but  not  wound  where  they 
*  James  v.  16. 


172  OF  MINISTERING  AT  THE  SICK  MAN'S 

should,  nor  open  those  humours  that  need  a  lancet  or  a 
cautery.     To  this  purpose  the  sick  man  may  be  reminded, 

Arguments  and  Exhortations  to  move  the  Sick  Man  to 
Confession  of  Sins. 

1.  That  God  hath  made  a  special  promise  to  confession 
of  sins.  "  He  that  confesselh  his  sins,  and  forsaketh  them, 
shall  have  mercy  ;"*  and,  "  If  we  confess  our  sins,  God  is 
righteous  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all 
unrighteousness.""]"  2.  That  confession  of  sins  is  a  proper 
act  and  introduction  to  repentance.  3.  That  when  the 
Jews,  being  warned  by  the  sermons  of  the  Baptist,  repented 
of  their  sins,  they  confessed  their  sins  to  John  in  the  sus- 
ception  of  baptism.:}.  4.  That  the  converts,  in  the  days  of 
the  apostles,  returning  to  Christianity,  instantly  declared 
their  faith  and  their  repentance,  by  confession  and  decla- 
ration of  their  deeds,§  which  they  then  renounced,  abjured, 
and  confessed  to  the  apostles.  5.  That  confession  is  an 
act  of  many  virtues  together.  6.  It  is  the  gate  of  repent- 
ance ;  7.  An  instrument  of  shame  and  condemnation  of  our 
sins  ;  8.  A  glorification  of  God,  so  called  by  Joshua,  par- 
ticularly in  the  case  of  Achan  ;  9.  An  acknowledgment, 
that  God  is  just  in  punishing;  for,  by  confessing  of  our 
sins,  we  also  confess  his  justice,  and  are  assessors  with 
God  in  this  condemnation  of  ourselves.  10.  That  by  such 
an  act  of  judging  ourselves,  we  escape  the  more  angry 
judgment  of  God :  St.  Paul  expressly  exhorting  us  to  it, 
upon  that  very  inducement. ||  11.  That  confession  of  sins 
is  so  necessary  a  duty,  that  in  all  Scriptures,  it  is  the  im- 
mediate preface  to  pardon,  and  the  certain  consequent  of 
godly  sorrow,  and  an  integral  or  constituent  part  of  that 
grace,  which  together  with  faith,  makes  up  the  whole  duty 
of  the  gospel.  12.  That  in  all  ages  of  the  gospel,  it  hath 
been  taught  and  practised  respectively,  that  all  the  peni- 
tents made  confessions  proportionable  to  their  repentance, 
that  is,  public  or  private,  general  or  particular.  13.  That 
God  by  testimonies  from  heaven,  that  is,  by  his  word,  and 
by  a  consequent  rare  peace  of  conscience,  hath  given  ap- 
probation to  this  holy  duty.  14.  That  by  this  instrument, 
those,  whose  office  it  is  to  apply  remedies  to  every  spirit- 
ual sickness,  can  best  perform  their  offices.     15.  That  it 

*  Prov.  xxviii.  13.  t  1  John  i.  9.  t  Matt  iii.  6  $  Acts  xix.  la 

II  1  Cor.  xi.  31. 


CO.NFESSIOA'  OF   SI  AS.  I73 

is  by  all  churches  esteemed  a  duty  necessary  to  be  done 
in  cases  of  a  troubled  conscience.  16.  Tiiat  what  is  ne- 
cessary to  be  done  in  one  case,  and  convenient  in  all  cases, 
is  fit  to  be  done  by  all  persons.  17.  That,  without  con- 
fession, it  cannot  easily  be  judged  concerning  the  sick  per- 
son, whether  his  conscience  ought  to  be  troubled  or  no, 
and  therefore  it  cannot  be  certain  that  it  is  not  necessary. 
18.  That  there  can  be  no  reason  against  it,  but  such  as 
consults  with  flesh  and  blood,  with  infirmity  and  sin,  to 
all  which  confession  of  sins  is  a  direct  enemy.  19.  That 
now  is  that  time,  when  all  the  imperfections  of  his  repent- 
ance and  all  the  breaches  of  his  duty  are  to  be  made  up, 
and  that,  if  he  omits  this  opportunity,  he  can  never  be  ad- 
mitted to  a  salutary  and  medicinal  confession.  20.  That 
St.  James  gives  an  express  precept,  that  we  Christians 
should  confess  our  sins  to  each  other,  that  is.  Christian  to 
Christian,  brother  to  brother,  the  people  to  their  minister; 
and  then  he  makes  a  specification  of  that  duty,  which  a  sick 
man  is  to  do,  when  he  hath  sent  for  the  elders  of  the  church. 

21.  That  in  all  this  there  is  no  force  lies  upon  him;  but 
"  if  he  hides  his  sins,  he  shall  not  be  directed,"  so  said  the 
wise  man  ;  but  ere  long  he  must  appear  before  the  great 
Judge  of  men  and  angels  :  and  his  spirit  will  be  more 
amazed  and  confounded  to  be  seen  among  the  angels  of 
light  with  the  shadows  of  the  works  of  darkness  upon  him, 
than  he  can  suffer  by  confessing  to  God  in  the  presence  of 
him,  whom  God  hath  sent  to  heal  him.  However,  it  is 
better  to  be  ashamed  here,  than  to  be  confounded  here- 
after. "  Pol  pudere  praestat  quam  pigere,  totidem  Uteris." 

22.  That  confession,  being  in  order  to  pardon  of  sins,  it  is 
very  proper  and  analogical  to  the  nature  of  the  thing,  that 
it  be  made  there,  where  the  pardon  of  sins  is  to  be  admi- 
nistered :  and  that,  of  pardon  of  sins  God  hath  made  the 
minister  the  publisher  and  dispenser ;  and  all  this  is  be- 
sides the  accidental  advantages,  which  accrue  to  the  con- 
science, Avhich  is  mr.de  ashamed,  and  timorous,  and  re- 
strained by  the  mortifications  and  blushings  of  discovering 
to  a  man  the  faults  committed  in  secret.  23.  That  the 
ministers  of  the  gospel  are  the  ministers  of  reconciliation, 
are  commanded  to  restore  such  persons  a  snare  overtaken 
in  a  fault ;  and  to  that  purpose  they  come  to  offer  their  mi- 
nistry, if  they  may  have  cognizance  of  the  fault  and  per- 
son.    24.  That,  in  the  matter  of  prudence,  it  is  not  safe  to 

p2  s  2 


174  OF  VISITING  AT  THE  SICK  MAN'S 

trust  a  man's  self  in  the  final  condition  and  last  security  of 
a  man's  soul,  a  man  being  no  good  judge  in  his  own  case. 
And  when  a  duty  is  so  useful  in  all  cases,  so  necessary  in 
some,  and  encouraged  by  promises  evangelical,  by  Scrip- 
ture precedents,  by  the  example  of  both  Testaments,  and 
prescribed  by  injunctions  apostolical,  and  by  the  canon  of  all 
churches,  and  the  example  of  all  ages,  and  taught  us  even 
by  the  proportions  of  duty,  and  the  analogy  to  the  power 
ministerial,  and  the  very  necessities  of  every  man  ;  he  that 
for  stubbornness,  or  sinful  shamefacedness,  or  prejudice, 
or  any  other  criminal  weakness,  shall  decline  to  do  it  in  the 
days  of  his  danger,  when  the  vanities  of  the  world  are  worn 
off,  and  all  affections  to  sin  are  wearied,  and  the  sin  itself 
is  pungent  and  grievous,  and  that  we  are  certain  we  shall 
not  escape  shame  for  them  hereafter,  unless  we  be  ashamed 
of  them  here,  and  use  all  the  proper  instruments  of  their 
pardon  ;  this  man,  I  say,  is  very  near  death,  but  very  far 
off  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

2.  The  spiritual  man  will  find  in  the  conduct  of  this  duty 
many  cases  and  varieties  of  accidents,  which  will  alter  his 
course  and  forms  of  proceedings.  Most  men  are  of  a  rude 
indifferency,  apt  to  excuse  themselves,  ignorant  of  their 
condition,  abused  by  evil  principles,  content  with  a  gene- 
ral and  indefinite  confession  ;  and  if  you  provoke  them  to 
it  by  the  foregoing  considerations,  lest  their  spirits  should 
be  a  little  uneasy,  or  not  secured  in  their  own  opinions, 
will  be  apt  to  say,  "  They  are  sinners,  as  every  man  hath 
his  infirmity,  and  ho  as  well  as  any  man  :  but,  God  be 
thanked,  they  bear  no  ill  will  to  any  man,  or  are  no  adulterers, 
or  no  rebels,  or  they  have  fought  on  the  right  side ;  and 
God  be  merciful  to  them,  for  they  are  sinners."  But  you 
shall  hardly  open  their  breasts  farther  :  and  to  inquire  be- 
yond this,  would  be  to  do  the  office  of  an  accuser. 

3.  But,  which  is  yet  worse,  there  are  very  many  persons, 
who  have  been  used  to  an  habitual  course  of  a  constant 
intemperance,  or  dissolution  in  any  other  instance,  that  the 
crime  is  made  natural  and  necessary,  and  the  conscience 
hath  digested  all  the  trouble,  and  the  man  thinks  himself  in 
a  good  estate,  and  never  reckons  any  sins,  but  those  which 
are  the  egression  and  passings  beyond  his  ordinary  and 
daily  drunkenness.  This  happens  in  the  cases  of  drunken- 
ness, and  intemperate  eating,  and  idleness,  and  uncharita- 
bleness,  and  in  lying  and  vain  jestings,  and  particularly  in 


CONFESSION  OF  SINS.  175 

such  evils,  which  the  laws  do  not  punish,  and  public  cus- 
toms do  not  shame,  but  which  are  countenanced  by  potent 
sinners,  or  evil  customs,  or  good  nature,  and  mistaken  ci- 
vilities. 

Instruments  by  way  of  Consideration,  to  awaken  a  careless 
Person,  and  a  stupid  Conscience, 
In  these  and  the  like  cases,  the  spiritual  man  must 
awaken  the  lethargy,  and  prick  the  conscience,  by  repre- 
senting to  him,  1.  That  Christianity  is  a  holy  and  a  strict 
religion.  2.  That  many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen. 
That  the  number  of  them,  that  are  to  be  saved,  are  but 
very  few  in  respect  of  those,  that  are  to  descend  into  sor- 
row and  everlasting  darkness.  That  we  have  covenanted 
with  God  in  baptism  to  live  a  holy  life.  That  the  mea- 
sures of  holiness  in  Christian  religion  are  not  to  be  taken 
by  the  evil  proportions  of  the  multitude,  and  common  fame 
of  looser  and  less  severe  persons ;  because  the  multitude, 
is  that  which  does  not  enter  into  heaven,  but  the  few,  the 
elect,  the  holy  servants  of  Jesus.  That  every  habitual  sin 
does  amount  to  a  very  great  guilt  in  the  whole,  though  it 
be  but  in  a  small  instance.  That  if  the  righteous  scarcely 
be  saved,  then  there  will  be  no  place  for  the  unrighteous 
and  the  sinner  to  appear  in,  but  places  of  horror  and 
amazement.  That  confidence  hath  destroyed  many  souls, 
and  many  have  had  a  sad  portion,  who  have  reckoned 
themselves  in  the  calender  of  saints.  That  the  promises 
of  heaven  are  so  great,  that  it  is  not  reasonable  to  think 
that  every  man,  and  every  life,  and  an  easy  religion,  shall 
possess  such  infinite  glories.  That  although  heaven  is  a 
gift,  yet  there  is  a  great  severity  and  strict  exacting  of  the 
conditions  on  our  part  to  receive  that  gift.  That  some 
persons  who  have  lived  strictly  for  forty  years  together, 
yet  have  miscarried  by  some  one  crime  at  last,  or  some 
secret  hypocrisy,  or  a  latent  pride,  or  a  creeping  ambition, 
or  a  fantastic  spirit ;  and  therefore  much  less  can  they 
hope  to  receive  so  great  portions  of  felicities,  when  their 
life  hath  been  a  continual  declination  from  those  severities 
which  might  have  created  confidence  of  pardon  and  ac- 
ceptation, through  the  mercies  of  God  and  the  merits  of 
Jesus.  That  every  good  man  ought  to  be  suspicious  of 
himself,  and  in  his  judgment  concerning  his  own  condi- 
tion, to  fear  the  worst,  that  he  may  provide  for  the  better. 


X76  MEANS  OF   AWAKENING 

That  we  are  commanded  to  work  out  our  salvation  with 
fear  and  trembling.  That  this  precept  was  given  with 
very  great  reason,  considering  the  thousand  thousand 
ways  of  miscarrying.  That  St.  Paul  himself,  and  St.  Ar- 
senius,  and  St.  Elzearius,  and  divers  other  remarkable 
saints,  had,  at  some  times,  great  apprehensions  of  the  dan- 
gers of  failing  of  the  mighty  price  of  their  high  calling. 
That  the  stake  that  is  to  be  secured,  is  of  so  great  an  in- 
terest, that  all  our  industry,  and  all  the  violences  we  can 
suffer  in  the  prosecution  of  it,  are  not  considerable.  That 
this  affair  is  to  be  done  but  once,  and  then  never  any  more 
unto  eternal  ages.  That  they  who  profess  themselves  ser- 
vants of  the  institution,  and  servants  of  the  law  and  disci- 
pline of  Jesus,  will  find  that  they  must  judge  themselves 
by  the  proportions  of  that  law,  by  which  they  were  to  rule 
themselves.  That  the  laws  of  society  and  civility,  and  the 
voices  of  my  company,  are  as  ill  judges  as  they  are  guides  ; 
but  we  are  to  stand  or  fall  by  his  sentence,  who  will  not 
consider  or  value  the  talk  of  idle  men,  or  the  persuasion 
of  wilfully  abused  consciences,  but  of  him  who  hath  felt 
our  infirmity  in  all  things  but  sin,  and  knows  where  our 
failings  are  unavoidable,  and  where  and  in  what  degree, 
they  are  excusable  ;  but  never  will  endure,  a  sin  should 
seize  upon  any  part  of  our  love,  and  deliberate  choice,  or 
careless  cohabitation.  That  if  our  conscience  accuse  us 
not,*  yet  are  we  not  hereby  justified  ;  for  God  is  greater 
than  our  consciences.")"  That  they  who  are  most  innocent, 
have  their  consciences  most  tender  and  sensible.  That 
scrupulous  persons  are  always  most  religious  ;  and  that 
to  feel  nothing,  is  not  a  sign  of  life,  but  of  death.  That 
nothing  can  be  hid  from  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  to  whom 
the  day  and  the  night,  public  and  private,  words  and 
thoughts,  actions  and  designs,  are  equally  discernible. 
That  a  lukewarm  person  is  only  secured  in  his  own 
thoughts,  but  very  unsafe  in  the  event,  and  despised  by 
God.  I'hat  we  live  in  an  age,  in"  which  that  which  is  call- 
ed and  esteemed  a  holy  life,  in  the  days  of  the  apostles 
and  holy  primitives  would  have  been  esteemed  indif- 
ferent, sometimes  scandalous,  and  always  cold.  That 
what  was  a  truth  of  God  then,  is  so  now ;  and  to  what  se- 
veriticE  they  were  tied,  for  the  same  also  we  are  to  be  ac- 
countable ;  and  heaven  is  not  now  an  easier  purchase  than 

*  1  John  iii.  20.  1 1  Cor.  iv.  4. 


A  SLEEPING  CONSCIENCE.  177 

it  was  then.  That  if  he  will  cast  up  his  accounts,  even 
with  a  superficial  eye,  let  him  consider  how  few  good 
works  he  halh  done  ;  how  inconsiderable  is  the  relief  which 
he  gave  to  the  poor;  how  little  are  the  extraordinaries  of 
his  religion;  and  how  inactive  and  lame,  how  polluted  and 
disordered,  how  unchoscn  and  unpleasant  were  the  ordi- 
nary parts  and  periods  of  it :  and  how  many  and  great  sins 
have  stained  his  course  of  life  :  and  until  he  enters  into  a 
particular  scrutiny,  let  him  only  revolve  in  his  mind  what 
his  general  course  hath  been  ;  and  in  the  way  of  prudence, 
let  him  say  whether  it  was  laudable  and  holy,  or  only  in- 
different and  excusable  ;  and  if  he  can  think  it  only  excu- 
sable, and  so  as  to  hope  for  pardon  by  such  suppletories 
of  faith,  and  arts  of  persuasion,  which  he  and  others  used 
to  take  in  for  auxiliaries  to  their  unreasonable  confidence ; 
then  he  cannot  but  think  it  very  fit,  that  he  search  into  his 
own  state,  and  take  a  guide,  and  erect  a  tribunal,  or  ap- 
pear before  that  which  Christ  hath  erected  for  him  on 
earth,  that  he  may  make  his  access  fairer,  when  he  shall 
be  called  before  the  dreadful  tribunal  of  Christ  in  the 
clouds.  For  if  he  can  be  confident  upon  the  stock  of  an 
unpraised  or  a  looser  life,  and  should  dare  to  venture  upon 
wild  accounts,  without  order,  without  abatements,  without 
consideration,  without  conduct,  without  fear,  without  scru- 
tinies, and  confessions,  and  instruments  of  amends  or  par- 
don, he  either  knows  not  his  danger,  or  cares  not  for  it, 
and  little  understands  how  great  a  horror  that  is,  that  a 
man  should  rest  his  head  for  ever  upon  a  cradle  of  flames, 
and  lie  in  a  bed  of  sorrows,  and  never  sleep,  and  never  end 
his  groans  or  the  gnashing  of  his  teeth. 

This  is  that,  which  some  spiritual  persons  call  a  waken- 
ing of  the  sinner  by  the  terrors  of  the  law  ;  which  is  a 
good  analogy  or  tropical  expression  to  represent  the 
threatenings  of  the  gospel,  and  the  dangers  of  an  incuri- 
ous and  a  sinning  person  :  but  we  have  nothing  else 
to  do  with  the  terrots  of  the  law  ;  for,  blessed  be  God, 
they  concern  us  not.  The  terrors  of  the  law  were  the  in- 
termination  of  curses  upon  all  those,  that  ever  broke  any 
of  the  least  commandments,  once,  or  in  any  instance  :  and 
to  it  the  righteousness  of  faith  is  opposed.  The  terrors  of 
the  law  admitted  no  repentance,  no  pardon,  no  abatement ; 
and  were  so  severe,  that  God  never  inflicted  them  at  all 
according  to  the  letter,  because  he  admitted  all  to  repent- 


178  OF  MINISTERIXG  AT  THE  SICK  MAN'S 

ance  that  desired  it  with  a  timely  prayer,  unless  in  very 
few  cases,  as  of  Achan,  or  Korah,  the  gatherer  of  sticks 
upon  the  Sabbath  day,  or  the  like  :  but  the  state  of  threat- 
enings  in  the  gospel  is  very  fearful,  because  the  conditions 
of  avoiding  them  are  easy  and  ready,  and  they  happen  to 
evil  persons  after  many  warnings,  second  thoughts,  fre- 
quent invitations  to  pardon  and  repentance,  and  after  one 
entire  pardon  consigned  in  baptism.  And  in  this  sense  it 
is  necessary,  that  such  persons,  as  we  now  deal  withal, 
should  be  instructed  concerning  their  danger. 

4.  When  the  sick  man  is  either  of  himself,  or  by  these 
considerations  set  forward  with  purposes  of  repentance, 
and  confession  of  his  sins,  in  order  to  all  its  holy  purposes 
and  eflects,  then  the  minister  is  to  assist  him  in  the  under- 
standing the  number  of  his  sins,  that  is,  the  several  kinds 
of  them,  and  the  various  manners  of  prevaricating  the 
Divine  commandments :  for  as  for  the  number  of  the  par- 
ticulars in  every  kind,  he  will  need  less  help  ;  and  if  he  did, 
he  can  have  it  no  where  but  in  his  own  conscience,  and 
from  the  witnesses  of  his  conversation.  Let  this  be  done 
by  prudent  insinuation,  by  arts  of  remembrance,  and  secret 
notices,  and  propounding  occasions  and  instruments  of 
recalling  such  things  to  his  mind,  which  either  by  public 
fame  he  is  accused  of,  or  by  the  temptations  of  his  condi- 
tion, it  is  likely  he  might  have  contracted. 

5.  If  the  person  be  truly  penitent,  and  forward  to  con- 
fess all  that  are  set  before  him  or  offered  to  his  sight  at  a 
half  face,  then  he  may  be  complied  withal  in  all  his  inno- 
cent circumstances,  and  his  conscience  made  placid  and 
willing,  and  he  be  drawn  forward  by  good  nature  and  civi- 
lity, that  his  repentance,  in  all  the  parts  of  it,  and  in  every 
step  of  its  progress  and  emanation,  may  be  as  voluntary 
and  chosen  as  it  can.  For  by  that  means  if  the  sick  person 
can  be  invited  to  do  the  work  of  religion,  it  enters  by  the 
door  of  his  will  and  choice,  and  will  pass  on  toward  con- 
summation by  the  instrument  of  delight. 

6.  If  the  sick  man  be  backward  and  without  apprehen- 
sion of  the  good-natured  and  civil  way,  let  the  minister 
take  care,  that  by  some  way  or  other  the  work  of  God  be 
secured  ;  and  if  he  will  not  understand,  when  he  is  secretly 
prompted,  he  must  be  hallooed  to,  and  asked  in  plain  in- 
terrogatives  concerning  the  crime  of  his  life.  He  must  be 
told  of  the  evil  thir.gs  that  arc    spoken  of  him  in  markets 


CONFESSION  OF  SINS.  179 

and  exchanges,  the  proper  temptations  and  accustomed 
evils  of  his  calliiiir  and  condition,  of  the  actions  of  scandal ; 
and  in  all  those  actions,  which  are  public,  or  of  which  any 
notice  is  come  abroad,  let  care  be  taken,  that  the  right 
side  of  the  case  of  conscience  be  turned  toward  him,  and 
the  error  truly  represented  to  him  by  which  he  was  abused; 
as  the  injustice  of  his  contracts,  his  oppressive  bargains, 
his  rapine  and  violence  ;  and  if  he  hath  persuaded  himself 
to  thiidv  well  of  a  scandalous  action,  let  him  be  instructed 
and  advertised  of  his  folly  and  his  danger. 

7.  And  this  advice  concerns  the  minister  of  religion  to 
follow  without  partiality,  or  fear  or  interest,  in  much  sim- 
plicity, and  prudence,  and  hearty  sincerity  ;  having  no 
other  consideration,  but  that  the  interest  of  the  man's  soul 
be  preserved,  and  no  caution  used,  but  that  the  matter  be 
represented  with  just  circumstances,  and  civilities  fitted  to 
the  person  W'ith  prefaces  of  honour  and  regard  ;  but  so 
that  nothing  of  the  duty  be  diminished  by  it,  that  the  in- 
troduction do  not  spoil  the  sermon,  and  both  together  ruin 
two  souls,  of  the  speaker  and  the  hearer.  For  it  may  soon 
be  considered,  if  the  sick  man  be  a  poor  or  an  indifferent 
person  in  secular  account,  yet  his  soul  is  equally  dear  to 
God  and  was  redeemed  with  the  same  highest  price,  and  is 
therefore  to  be  highly  regarded  ;  and  there  is  no  temptation 
but  that  the  spiritual  man  may  speak  freely  without  the  al- 
lays of  interest,  or  fear,  or  mistaken  civilities.  But  if  the 
sick  man  be  a  prince  or  a  person  of  eminence  or  wealth, 
let  it  be  remembered,  it  is  an  ill  expression  of  reverence 
to  his  authority,  or  of  regard  to  his  person,  to  let  him  perish 
for  the  want  of  an  honest,  and  just,  and  a  free  homily. 

8.  Let  the  sick  man,  in  the  scrutiny  of  his  conscience 
and  confession  of  his  sins,  be  carefully  reminded  to  con- 
sider those  sins,  which  are  only  condemned  in  the  court 
of  conscience,  and  no  where  else.  For  there  are  certain  se- 
crecies and  retirements,  places  of  darkness  and  artificial 
veils,  with  which  the  devil  uses  to  hide  our  sins  from  us, 
and  to  incorporate  them  into  our  affections  by  a  constant 
uninterrupted  practice,  before  they  be  prejudiced  or  disco- 
vered. 1.  There  are  many  sins,  which  have  reputation, 
and  are  accounted  honour;  as  fighting  a  duel,  answering 
a  blow  with  a  blow,  carrying  armies  into  a  neighbour- 
country,  robbing  with  a  navy,  violently  seizing  upon  a 
kingdom.     2.  Others    are   permitted  by  law ;  as  Usury,  in 


leO  OF  MINISTERING  AT  THE  SICK  MAN'S 

all  countries;  and  because  every  excess  of  it  is  a  certain 
sin,  the  permission  of  so  suspected  a  matter  makes  it  ready 
for  us,  and  instructs  the  temptation.  3.  Some  things  are 
not  forbidden  by  laws ;  as  lying  in  ordinary  discourse, 
jeering,  scoffing,  intemperate  eating,  ingratitude,  selling 
too  dear,  circumventing  another  in  contracts,  importunate 
entreaties,  and  temptation  of  persons  to  many  instances  of 
sin,  pride,  and  ambition.  4.  Some  others  do  not  reckon 
they  sin  against  God,  if  the  laws  have  seized  upon  the 
person ;  and  many  that  are  imprisoned  for  debt,  think 
themselves  disobliged  from  payment :  and  when  they  pay 
the  penalty,  think  they  owe  nothing  for  the  scandal  and 
disobedience.  5.  Some  sins  are  thought  not  considerable, 
but  go  under  the  title  of  sins  of  infirmity,  or  inseparable 
accidents  of  mortality  ;  such  as  idle  thoughts,  foolish  talk- 
ing, looser  revellings,  impatience,  anger,  and  all  the  events 
of  evil  company.  6.  Lastly,  many  things  are  thought  to  be 
no  sins :  such  as  mispending  of  their  time,  whole  days  or 
months  of  useless  and  impertinent  employment,  long 
gaming,  winning  men's  money  in  greater  portions,  censur- 
ing men's  actions,  curiosity,  equivocating  in  the  prices  and 
secrets  of  buying  and  selling,  rudeness,  speaking  truths 
enviously,  doing  good  to  evil  purposes,  and  the  like.  Under 
the  dark  shadow  of  these  unhappy  and  fruitless  yew-trees, 
the  enemy  of  mankind  makes  very  many  to  lie  hid  from 
themselves,  sewing  before  their  nakedness  the  fig-leaves  of 
popular  and  idol  reputation,  and  impunity,  public  permis- 
sion, a  temporal  penalty,  infirmity,  prejudice,  and  direct 
error  in  judgment,  and  ignorance.  Now,  in  all  these  cases 
the  ministers  are  to  be  inquisitive  and  observant,  lest  the 
fallacy  prevail  upon  the  penitent  to  evil  purposes  of  death 
or  diminution  of  his  good  ;  and  that  those  things  which  in 
his  life  passed  without  observation,  may  now  be  brought 
forth,  and  pass  under  saws  and  harrows,  that  is  the  severity 
and  censure  of  sorrow  and  condemnation. 

9.  To  which  I  add,  for  the  likeness  of  the  thing,  that 
the  matter  of  omission  be  considered ;  for  in  them  lies  the 
bigger  half  of  our  failings ;  and  yet,  in  many  instances, 
they  are  undiscerned,  because  they  very  often  sit  down  by 
the  conscience,  but  never  upon  it ;  and  they  are  usually 
looked  upon  as  poor  men  do  upon  their  not  having  coach 
and  horses,  or  as  that  knowledge  is  missed  by  boys  and 
hinds,  which  they  never  had  ;  it  will  be  hard  to  make  them 


CONFESSION  OF  SINS.  181 

understand  their  ignorance  :  it  requires  knowledge  to  per- 
ceive it;  and  therefore  he  that  can  perceive  it,  hatli  it  not. 
But  by  this  pressing  the  conscience  with  omissions,  I  do 
not  mean  recession,  or  distances  from  states  of  eminency 
or  perfection  :  for  although  they  may  be  used  by  the  minis- 
ters as  an  instrument  of  humility,  and  a  chastiser  of  too 
big  a  confidence;  yet  that,  which  is  to  be  confessed  and 
repented  of,  is  omission  of  duty  in  direct  instances  and 
matters  of  commandment,  or  collateral  and  personal  obliga- 
tions, and  is  especially  to  be  considered,  by  kings  and  pre- 
lates, by  governors  and  rich  persons,  by  guides  of  souls, 
and  presidents  of  learning  in  public  charge,  and  by  all 
others  in  their  proportions. 

10.  The  ministers  of  religion  must  take  care,  that  the 
sick  man's  confession  be  as  minute  and  particular  as  it 
can,  and  that  as  few  sins  as  may  be,  be  intrusted  to  the 
general  prayer  for  pardon  for  all  sins ;  for  by  being  particu- 
lar and  enumerative  of  the  variety  of  evils,  which  have  dis- 
ordered his  life,  his  repentance  is  disposed  to  be  more 
pungent  and  afflictive,  and  therefore  more  salutary  and 
medicinal  :  it  hath  in  it  more  sincerity,  and  makes  a  better 
judgment  of  the  final  condition  of  the  man  ;  and  from 
thence  it  is  certain,  the  hopes  of  the  sick  man  can  be  more 
confident  and  reasonable. 

11.  The  spiritual  man,  that  assists  at  the  repentance  of 
the  sick,  must  not  be  inquisitive  into  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  particular  sins,  but  be  content  with  those  that  are 
direct  paths  of  the  crime,  and  aggravations  of  the  sorrow ; 
such  as  frequency,  long  abode,  and  earnest  choice  in  acting 
them ;  violent  desires,  great  expense,  scandal  of  others ; 
dishonour  to  the  religion,  days  of  devotion,  religious  so- 
lemnities and  holy  places  ;  and  the  degrees  of  boldness 
and  impudence,  perfect  resolution,  and  the  habit.  If  the 
sick  person  be  reminded  or  inquired  into  concerning  these, 
it  may  prove  a  good  instrument  to  increase  his  contrition, 
and  perfect  his  penitential  sorrows,  and  facilitate  his  abso- 
lution, and  the  means  of  his  amendment.  But  the  other 
circumstances,  as  of  the  relative  person  in  the  participation 
of  the  crime,  the  measures  or  circumstances  of  the  impure 
action,  the  name  of  the  injured  man  or  woman,  the  quality 
or  accidental  condition  :  these  and  all  the  like  are  but 
questions  springing  from  curiosity,  and  producing  scruple, 
and  apt  to  turn  into  many  inconveniences. 

q  2  T 


182  OF  MINISTERING  AT  THE  SICK  MAN'S 

12.  The  minister,  in  this  duty  of  repentance,  must  be 
diligent  to  observe  concerning  the  person  that  repents,  that 
he  be  not  imposed  upon  by  some  one  excellent  thing,  that 
was  remarkable  in  the  sick  man's  former  life.  For  there 
are  some  people  of  one  good  thing.  Some  are  charitable 
to  the  poor  out  of  kind-heartedness,  and  the  same  good 
nature  makes  them  easy  and  compliant  with  drinking  per- 
sons, and  they  die  with  drink,  but  cannot  live  with  charity  : 
and  their  alms,  it  may  be,  shall  deck  their  monument,  or 
give  them  the  reward  of  loving  persons,  and  the  poor  man's 
thanks  for  alms,  and  procure  many  temporal  blessings; 
but  it  is  very  sad,  that  the  reward  should  be  all  spent  in 
this  world.  Some  are  rarely  just  persons,  and  punctual 
observers  of  their  word  with  men,  but  break  their  promises 
with  God,  and  make  no  scruple  of  that.  In  these  and  all 
the  like  cases,  the  spiritual  man  must  be  careful  to  remark, 
that  good  proceeds  from  an  entire  and  integral  cause,  and 
evil  from  every  part :  that  one  sickness  can  make  a  man 
die ;  but  he  cannot  live  and  be  called  a  sound  man,  with- 
out an  entire  health  ;  and  therefore,  if  any  confidence 
arises  upon  that  stock,  so  as  that  it  hinders  the  strictness 
of  the  repentance,  it  must  be  allayed  with  the  represent- 
ment  of  this  sad  truth,  "  that  he  who  reserves  one  evil  in 
his  choice,  hath  chosen  an  evil  portion,  and  coloquintida 
and  death  is  in  the  pot :"  and  he  that  worships  the  God 
of  Israel  with  a  frequent  sacrifice,  and  yet  upon  the  anni- 
versary v/ill  bow  in  the  house  of  Venus,  and  loves  to  see 
the  follies  and  the  nakedness  of  Rimmon,  may  eat  part  of 
the  flesh  of  the  sacrifice,  and  fill  his  belly,  but  shall  not  be 
refreshed  by  the  holy  cloud  arising  from  the  altar,  or  the 
dew  of  heaven  descending  upon  the  mysteries. 

13.  And  yet  the  minister  is  to  estimate,  that  one,  or  more 
good  things,  is  to  be  an  ingredient  into  his  judgment  con- 
cerning the  state  of  his  soul,  and  the  capacities  of  his  resti- 
tution, and  admission  to  the  peace  of  the  church  :  and  ac- 
cording as  the  excellency  and  usefulness  of  the  grace  hath 
been,  and  according  to  the  degrees  and  the  reasons  of  its 
prosecution,  so  abatements  are  to  be  made  in  the  injunc- 
tions and  impositions  upon  the  penitent.  For  every  virtue 
is  one  degree  of  approach  to  God  ;  and  though,  in  respect 
of  the  acceptation,  it  is  equally  none  at  all,  that  is,  it  is  as 
certain  a  death  if  a  man  dies  with  one  mortal  wound,  as  if 
he  had  twenty  ;  yet  in  such  persons,  who  have  some  one 


CONFESSION  OF  SINS.  183 

or  more  excellencies,  thou^rli  not  an  entire  piety,  there  is 
naturally  a  nearer  approach  to  the  state  of  grace,  than  in 
persons,  who  have  done  evils,  and  are  eminent  for  nothing 
that  is  good.  But  in  making  judgment  of  such  persons,  it 
is  to  be  inquired  into,  and  noted  accordingly,  why  the  sick 
person  was  so  eminent  in  that  one  good  thing;  whether 
by  choice  and  apprehension  of  his  duty,  or  whether  it  was 
a  virtue  from  which  his  state  of  life  ministered  nothing  to 
dehort  or  discourage  him,  or  whether  it  was  only  a  conse- 
quent of  his  natural  temper  and  constitution.  If  the  first, 
then  it  supposes  him  in  the  neigbourhood  of  the  state  of 
grace,  and  that  in  other  things  he  was  strongly  tempted. 
The  second  is  a  felicity  of  his  education,  and  an  effect  of 
Providence.  The  third  is  a  felicity  of  his  nature,  and  a 
gift  of  God  in  order  to  spiritual  purposes.  But  yet  of 
every  one  of  these,  advantage  is  to  be  made.  If  the  con- 
science of  his  duty  was  the  principal,  then  he  is  ready 
formed  to  entertain  all  other  graces  upon  the  same  reason, 
and  his  repentance  must  be  made  more  sharp  and  penal ; 
because  he  is  convinced  to  have  done  against  his  conscience 
in  all  the  other  parts  of  his  life  ;  but  the  judgment  concern- 
ing his  final  state  ought  to  be  more  gentle,  because  it  was 
a  huge  temptation  that  hindered  the  man,  and  abused  his 
infirmity.  But  if  either  his  calling  or  his  nature  were  the 
parents  of  the  grace,  he  is  in  the  state  of  a  moral  man  (in 
the  just  and  proper  meaning  of  the  word,)  and  to  be  hand- 
led accordingly  :  that  virtue  disposed  him  rarely  well  to 
many  other  good  things,  but  was  no  part  of  the  grace  of 
sanctification  ;  and  therefore  the  man's  repentance  is  to 
begin  anew,  for  all  that,  and  is  to  be  finished  in  the  returns 
of  health,  if  God  grants  it ;  but  if  he  denies  it,  it  is  much, 
very  much  the  worse  for  all  that  sweet-natured  virtue. 

14.  When  the  confession  is  made,  the  spiritual  man  is  to 
execute  the  office  of  a  restorer  and  a  judge,  in  the  following 
particulars  and  manner. 

SECTION  IV. 

Of  the  ministering  to  the  Restitution  and  Pardon,  or  Recon- 
ciliation of  the  Sick  Person,  hy  administering  the  holy 
Sacrament. 

"  If  any  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye,  which  are  spi- 
ritual, restore  such  a  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness  ;"*  that 

*  Gal.  vi.  1. 


184  OF  ABSOLVIING  AND  COMMUMCATiNG 

is  the  commission  :  and,  "  Let  tlie  elders  of  the  church 
pray  over  the  sick  man;  and,  if  lie  have  committed  sins, 
they  shall  be  forgiven  him  ;"*  that  is  the  effect  of  his  power 
and  his  ministry.  But  concerning  this,  some  few  things 
are  to  be  considered. 

1.  It  is  the  office  of  the  presbyters  and  ministers  of  re- 
ligion to  declare  public  criminals  and  scandalous  persons 
to  be  such,  that,  when  the  leprosy  is  declared,  the  flock 
may  avoid  the  infection  ;  and  then  the  man  is  excommuni- 
cate, when  the  people  are  warned  to  avoid  the  danger  of 
the  man,  or  the  reproach  of  the  crime,  to  withdraw  from 
his  society,  and  not  to  bid  him  God  speed,  not  to  eat  and 
celebrate  synaxes  and  church-meetings  with  such  who  are 
declared  criminal  and  dangerous.  And  therefore  excom- 
munication is,  in  a  very  great  part,  the  act  of  the  congre- 
gation and  communities  of  the  faithful  :  and  St.  Paul  said 
to  the  church  of  the  Corinthians,"}"  that  they  had  inflicted 
the  evil  upon  the  incestuous  person,  that  is,  by  excommu- 
nicating him  :  all  the  acts  of  which  are,  as  they  are  sub- 
jected in  the  people,  acts  of  caution  and  liberty  ;  but  no 
more  acts  of  direct,  proper  power  or  jurisdiction,  than  it 
was,  when  the  scholars  of  Simon  Magus  left  his  chair,  and 
went  to  hear  St.  Peter  :  but  as  they  are  actions  of  the  rulers 
of  the  church,  so  they  are  declarative,  ministerial,  and 
eflTective  too  by  moral  casualty,  that  is,  by  persuasion  and 
discourse,  by  argument  and  prayer,  by  homily  and  material 
representment,  by  reasonableness  of  order,  and  the  super- 
induced necessities  of  men  ;  though  not  by  any  real  change 
of  state  as  to  the  person,  nor  by  diminution  of  his  right, 
or  violence  to  his  condition. 

2.  He  that  baptizes,  and  he  that  ministers  the  holy  sa- 
crament, or  he  that  prays,  does  holy  offices  of  great  ad- 
vantage ;  but  in  these  also,  just  as  in  the  former,  he  exer- 
cises no  jurisdiction  or  pre-eminence  after  the  manner  of 
secular  authority ;  and  the  same  is  also  true,  if  he  should 
deny  them.  He  that  refuseth  to  baptize  an  indisposed 
person,  hath,  by  the  consent  of  all  men,  no  power  or 
jurisdiction  over  the  unbaptized  man  :  and  he,  that,  for 
the  like  reason,  refuseth  to  give  him  the  communion,  pre- 
serves the  sacredness  of  the  mysteries,  and  does  charity 
to  the  undisposed  man,  to  deny  that  to  liim,  which  will  do 
him  mischief;  and  this  is  an  act  of  separation,  just  as  it  is 

*  James  V,  14,  15.  t  1  Cor.  v.  5.  IS,  13.       2  Cor.  ii.  G. 


THE  SICK  PENITENT.  185 

for  a  friend  or  pliysician  to  deny  water  to  an  hydropic  per- 
son, or  Italian  wines  to  a  hectic  fever  ;  or  as  if  Cato  should 
deny  to  salute  Bibulus,  or  the  censor  of  manners  to  do 
countenance  to  a  wanton  and  vicious  person.  And  though 
this  thin^  was  expressed  by  words  of  power,  such  as  sepa- 
ration, abstention,  excommunication,  deposition;  yet  these 
words  we  understand  by  the  thing  itself,  which  was  noto- 
rious and  evident  to  be  matter  of  prudence,  security,  and 
a  free,  unconstrained  discipline  :  and  they  passed  into  power 
by  consent  and  voluntary  submission  ;  having  the  same 
eltect  of  constraint,  fear,  and  authority,  which  we  see  in 
secular  jurisdiction  ;  not  because  ecclesiastical  discipline 
hath  a  natural  proper  coercion  as  lay-tribunals  have,  but 
because  men  have  submitted  to  it,  and  are  bound  to  do  so 
upon  the  interest  of  two  or  three  Christian  graces. 

3.  In  pursuance  of  this  caution  and  provision,  the  church 
superinduced  times  and  manners  of  abstention,  and  ex- 
pressions of  sorrow,  and  canonical  punishments,  which  they 
tied  the  delinquent  people  to  suffer,  before  they  would 
admit  them  to  the  holy  table  of  the  Lord.  For  the  criminal 
having  obliged  himself  by  his  sin,  and  the  church  having 
declared  it,  when  she  could  take  notice  of  it,  he  is  bound 
to  repent,  to  make  him  capable  of  pardon  with  God  ;  and 
to  prove  that  he  is  penitent,  he  is  to  do  such  actions,  which 
the  church,  in  the  virtue  and  pursuance  of  repentance,  shall 
accept  as  a  testimony  of  it,  sufficient  to  inform  her  :  for  as  she 
could  not  bind  at  all  (in  this  sense)  till  the  crime  was  public, 
though  the  man  had  bound  himself  in  secret ;  so  neither 
can  she  set  him  free,  till  the  repentance  be  as  public  as  the 
sin,  or  so  as  she  can  note  it  and  approve  it.  Though  the 
man  be  free,  as  to  God,  by  his  internal  act ;  yet,  as  the 
publication  of  the  sin  was  accidental  to  it,  and  the  church- 
censure  consequent  to  it,  so  is  the  publication  of  repent- 
ance and  consequent  absolution  extrinsical  to  the  pardon, 
but  accidentally  and  in  the  present  circumstances  neces- 
sary. This  was  the  same  that  the  Jews  did  (though  in 
other  instances  and  expressions,)  and  do  to  this  day  to 
their  prevaricating  people  ;  and  the  Essenes  in  their  assem- 
blies, and  private  colleges  of  scholars,  and  public  universi- 
ties. For  all  these  being  assemblies  of  voluntary  persons, 
and  such  as  seek  for  advantage,  are  bound  to  make  an  ar- 
tificial authority  in  their  superiors,  and  so  to  secure  order 
and  government  by  their  own  obedience  and  voluntary 
q 2  '  2t2 


186  OF  ABSOLVING  AND  COMMUNICATING 

subordination,  which  is  not  essential  and  of  proper  juris- 
diction in  the  superior;  and  the  band  of  it,  is  not  any 
coercive  power,  but  the  denying  to  communicate  such 
benefits,  which  they  seek  in  that  communion  and  fel- 
lowship. 

4.  These,  I  say,  were  introduced  in  the  special  manners 
and  instances  by  positive  authority,  and  have  not  a  Divine 
authority  commanding  them  ;  but  there  is  a  Divine  power, 
that  verifies  them,  and  makes  these  separations  effectual 
and  formidable:  for  because  they  are  declarative  and 
ministerial  in  the  spiritual  man,  and  suppose  a  delinquency 
and  demerit  in  the  other,  and  a  sin  against  God,  our 
blessed  Saviour  hath  declared,  that,  "  what  they  bind  on 
earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven  ;"  that  is,  in  plain  signifi- 
cation, the  same  sins  and  sinners,  which  the  clergy  condemn 
in  the  face  of  their  assemblies,  the  same  are  condemned  in 
heaven  before  the  face  of  God,  and  for  the  same  reason  too. 
God's  law  hath  sentenced  it,  and  these  are  the  preachers 
and  publishers  of  his  law,  by  which  they  stand  condemned  ; 
and  these  laws  are  they,  that  condemn  the  sin,  or  acquit 
the  penitent,  there  and  here ;  whatsoever  they  bind  here, 
shall  be  bound  there  ;  that  is,  the  sentence  of  God  at  the 
day  of  judgment  shall  sentence  the  same  men,  whom  the 
church  does  rightly  sentence  here.  It  is  spoken  in  the 
future,  it  shall  be  hound  in  heaven ;  not  that  the  sinner 
is  first  bound  there,  or  first  absolved  there  ;  but  because  all 
binding  and  loosing  in  the  interval  is  imperfect  and  rela- 
tive to  the  day  of  judgment,  the  day  of  the  great  sentence, 
therefore  it  is  set  down  in  the  time  to  come,  and  says  this 
only,  the  clergy  are  tied  by  the  word  and  laws  of  God  to 
condemn  such  sins  and  sinners  ;  and  that  you  may  not 
think  it  ineffective,  because  after  such  sentence  the  man 
lives,  and  grows  rich,  or  remains  in  health  and  power; 
therefore  be  sure,  it  shall  be  verified  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. This  is  hugely  agreeable  wnth  the  words  of  our 
Lord,  and  certain  in  reason  :  for  that  the  minister  does  no- 
thing to  the  final  alteration  of  the  state  of  the  man's  soul 
by  way  of  sentence,  is  demonstratively  certain,  because  he 
cannot  bind  a  man,  but  such  as  hath  bound  himself,  and 
who  is  bound  in  heaven  by  his  sin  before  his  sentence  in 
the  church  :  as  also  because  the  binding  of  the  church  is 
merely  accidental,  and  upon  publication  only  ;  and  when 
the  man  repents,  he  is  absolved  before  God,  before  the 


THE  SICK  PENITENT.  187 

sentence  of  the  church,  upon  his  conintion  and  dereliction 
only  ;  and  if  he  were  not,  tiie  church  could  not  absolve 
him.  The  consequent  of  which  evident  truth  is  this,  that 
whatsoever  impositions  the  church-officers  impose  upon 
the  criminal,  they  are  to  avoid  scandal,  to  testify  repent- 
ance, and  to  exercise  it,  to  instruct  the  people,  to  make 
them  fear,  to  represent  the  act  of  God,  and  the  secret  and 
the  true  state  of  the  sinner  ;  and  although  they  are  not  es- 
sentially necessary  to  our  pardon,  yet  they  are  become  ne- 
cessary, when  tiie  church  hath  seized  upon  the  sinner,  by 
public  notice  of  the  crime  :  necessary  (I  say)  for  the  re- 
moving the  scandal,  and  giving  testimony  of  our  contrition, 
and  for  the  receiving  all  that  comfort,  which  he  needs,  and 
can  derive  from  the  promises  of  pardon  as  they  are  pub- 
lished by  him,  that  is  commanded  to  preach  them  to  all 
them  that  repent.  And  therefore  although  it  cannot  be  ne- 
cessary as  to  the  obtaining  pardon,  that  the  priest  should 
in  private  absolve  a  sick  man  from  his  private  sins,  and 
there  is  no  loosing,  where  there  was  no  precedent  binding, 
and  he,  that  was  only  bound  before  God,  can  before  him 
only  be  loosed :  yet  as  to  confess  sins  to  any  Christian  in 
private  may  have  many  good  ends,  and  to  confess  them  to 
a  clergyman  may  have  many  more  ;  so  to  hear  God's  sen- 
tence at  the  mouth  of  the  minister,  pardon  pronounced  by 
God's  ambassador,  is  of  huge  comfort  to  them,  that  cannot 
otherwise  be  comforted,  and  whose  infirmity  needs  it ;  and 
therefore  it  were  very  fit  it  were  not  neglected  in  the  days 
of  our  fear  and  danger,  of  our  infirmities  and  sorrow. 

5.  The  execution  of  this  ministry  being  an  act  of  pru- 
dence and  charity,  and  therefore  relative  to  changing  cir- 
cumstances, it  hath  been,  and  in  many  cases  may,  and  in 
some  must  be,  rescinded  and  altered.  The  time  of  separa- 
tion may  be  lengthened  and  shortened,  the  condition  made 
lighter  or  heavier,  and  for  the  same  offence  the  clergyman 
is  deposed,  but  yet  admitted  to  the  communion,  for  which 
one  of  the  people,  who  hath  no  office  to  lose,  is  denied  the 
benefit  of  communicating;  and  this  sometimes  when  he 
might  lawfully  receive  it;  and  a  private  man  is  separate, 
when  a  multitude  or  a  prince  is  not,  cannot,  ought  not; 
and,  at  last,  when  the  case  of  sickness  and  danger  of  death 
did  occur,  they  admitted  all  men  that  desired  it ;  sometimes 
without  scruple  or  difficulty,  sometimes  with  some  little  re- 
straint in  great  or  insolent  cases  (as  in  the  case  of  apos- 


188  OF  ABSOLVIAG  AND  COMMUNICATING 

tacy,  in  which  the  council  of  Aries  denied  absolution,  un- 
less they  received  and  gave  public  satisfaction  by  acts  of 
repentance ;  and  some  other  councils,  denied,  at  any  time, 
to  do  it  to  such  persons)  according  as  seemed  fitting  to  the 
present  necessities  of  the  church.  All  which  particulais 
declare  it  to  be  no  part  of  a  Divine  commandment,  that 
any  man  should  be  denied  to  receive  the  communion,  if  he 
desires  it,  and  if  he  be  in  any  probable  capacity  of  receiv- 
ing it. 

6.  Since  the  separation  was  an  act  of  liberty  and  a  direct 
negative,  it  follows  that  the  restitution  was  a  mere  doing 
that  which  they  refused  formerly,  and  to  give  the  holy  com- 
munion was  the  formality  of  absolution,  and  all  the  instru- 
ment and  the  whole  matter  of  reconcilement ;  the  taking 
off  the  punishment  is  the  pardoning  of  the  sin  :  for  this 
without  the  other  is  but  a  word  ;  and  if  this  be  done,  I  care 
not,  whether  any  thing  be  said  or  no.  Vinum  Dominicum 
ministratoris  gratia  est,  is  also  true  in  this  sense  ;  to  give 
the  chalice  and  cup  is  the  grace  and  indulgence  of  the  mi- 
nister :  and  when  that  is  done,  the  man  hath  obtained  the 
peace  of  the  church ;  and  to  do  that  is  all  the  absolution 
the  church  can  give.  And  they  were  vain  disputes,  which 
were  commenced,  some  few  ages  since,  concerning  the 
forms  of  absolution,  whether  they  were  indicative  or  opta- 
tive, by  way  of  declaration  or  by  way  of  sentence  :  for,  at 
first  they  had  no  forms  at  all,  but  they  said  a  prayer,  and, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Jews,  laid  hands  upon  the  penitent, 
when  they  prayed  over  him,  and  so  admitted  him  to  the 
holy  communion ;  for  since  the  church  had  no  power  over 
her  children,  but  of  excommunicating  and  denying  them 
to  attend  upon  holy  offices  and  ministries  respectively,  nei- 
ther could  they  have  any  absolution,  but  to  admit  them 
thither,  from  whence  formerly  they  were  forbidden  :  what- 
soever ceremony  or  forms  did  signify,  this  was  super-in- 
duced and  arbitrary,  alterable  and  accidental  ,•  it  had  variety, 
but  no  necessity. 

7.  The  practice  consequent  to  this,  is,  that  if  the  penitent 
be  bound  by  the  positive  censures  of  the  church,  he  is  to  be 
reconciled  upon  those  conditions,  which  the  laws  of  the 
church  tie  him  to,  in  case  he  can  perform  them:  if  he  can- 
not, he  can  no  longer  be  prejudiced  by  the  censure  of  the 
church,  which  had  no  relation  but  to  the  people,  with  whom 
the  dying  man  is  no  longer  to  converse.  For  whatsoever  re- 


THE  SICK  PENITENT.  IQQ 

lat.cs  to  God,  is  to  be  transacted  in  spiritual  ways,  by  con- 
trition, and  internal  graces  ;  and  the  mercy  of  the  church  is 
sucli,  as  to  give  him  her  peace  and  her  blessing  upon  his 
undertaking  to  obey  her  injunctions,  if  he  shall  be  able: 
which  injunctions,  if  they  be  declared  by  public  sentence, 
the  minister  hath  nothing  to  do  in  the  affairs,  but  to  remind 
him  of  liis  obligation,  and  reconcile  him,  that  is,  give  him 
the  holy  sacrament. 

8.  If  tiie  penitent  be  not  bound  by  public  sentence,  the 
minister  is  to  make  his  repentance  as  great,  and  his  heart 
as  contrite,  as  he  can  ;  to  dispose  him  by  the  repetition  of 
acts  of  grace  in  the  way  of  prayer,  and  in  real  and  exterior 
instances  where  he  can  ;  and  then  to  give  him  the  holy  com- 
munion in  all  the  same  cases,  in  which  he  ought  not  to 
have  denied  it  to  him  in  his  health  ;  that  is,  even  in  the 
beginnings  of  such  a  repentance,  which,  by  human  signs, 
he  believes  to  be  real  and  holy  ;  and  after  this,  the  event 
must  be  left  to  God.  The  reason  of  the  rule  depends  upon 
this :  because  there  is  no  Divine  commandment  directly 
forbidding  the  rulers  of  the  church  to  give  the  communion 
to  any  Christian  that  desires  it,  and  professes  repentance 
of  his  sins.  And  all  church-discipline  in  every  instance, 
and  to  every  single  person,  was  imposed  upon  him  by  men, 
who  did  it  according  to  the  necessities  of  this  state  and 
constitution  of  our  affairs  below  :  but  we,  who  are  but  minis- 
ters and  delegates  of  pardon  and  condemnation  must  re- 
sign and  give  up  our  judgment,  when  the  man  is  no  more 
to  be  judged  by  the  sentences  of  man,  and  by  the  propor- 
tions of  this  world,  but  of  the  other  ;  to  which  if  our  re- 
conciliation docs  advantage,  we  ought  in  charity  to  send 
him  forth  with  all  the  advantages  he  can  receive  ;  for  he 
will  need  them  all.  And  therefore  the  Nicene  council  com- 
mands, that  no  man  be  deprived  of  this  necessary  pass- 
port in  the  article  of  his  death,  and  calls  this  the  ancient 
and  canonical  law  of  the  church:  and  to  minister  it,  only 
supposes  the  man  in  the  communion  of  the  church,  not 
r.lways  in  the  state,  but  ever  in  the  possibilities  of  sancti- 
fication.  They  who  in  the  article  and  danger  of  death, 
were  admitted  to  tiie  communion,  and  tied  to  penance  if 
they  recovered  (which  was  ever  the  custom  of  the  ancient 
church,  unless  in  very  few  cases,)  were  but  in  the  threshold 
of  repentance,  in  the  commencement  and  first  introduc- 
tions to  a  devout  life  :  and  indeed  then  it  is  a  fit  ministrv, 


190  OF  ABSOLVING  AND  COMMUNICATING 

that  it  be  given  in  all  the  periods  of  time,  in  which  the 
pardon  of  sins  is  working,  since  it  is  the  sacrament  of  that 
great  mystery,  and  the  exhibition  of  that  blood,  which  is 
shed  for  the  remission  of  sins. 

9.  The  minister  of  religion  ought  not  to  give  the  com- 
munion to  a  sick  person,  if  he  retains  the  affection  to  any 
sin,  and  refuses  to  disavow  it,  or  profess  repentance  of  all 
sins  whatsoever,  if  he  be  required  to  do  it.  The  reason  is, 
because  it  is  a  certain  death  to  him,  and  an  increase  of  his 
misery,  if  he  shall  so  profane  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
as  to  take  it  into  so  unholy  a  breast,  where  Satan  reigns,  and 
sin  is  principal,  and  the  Spirit  is  extinguished,  and  Christ 
loves  not  to  enter,  because  he  is  not  suffered  to  inhabit. 
But  when  he  professes  repentance,  and  does  such  acts  of 
it,  as  his  present  condition  permits,  he  is  to  be  presumed  to 
intend  heartily,  what  he  professes  solemnly  ;  and  the  minis- 
ter is  only  the  judge  of  outward  act,  and  by  that  only  he 
is  to  take  information  concerning  the  inward.  But  whether 
he  be  so  or  no,  or  if  he  be,  whether  that  be  timely,  and 
effectual  and  sufficient  towards  the  pardon  of  sins  before 
God,  is  another  consideration,  of  which  we  may  conjecture 
here,  but  we  shall  know  it  at  doomsday.  The  spiritual  man 
is  to  do  his  ministry  by  the  rules  of  Christ,  and  as  the  cus- 
toms of  the  church  appoint  him,  and  after  the  manner  of 
men  :  the  event  is  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  is  to  be  expect- 
ed, not  directly  and  wholly  according  to  his  ministry,  but  to 
the  former  life,  or  the  timely  internal  repentance  and 
amendment,  of  which  I  have  already  given  accounts. 
These  ministries  are  acts  of  order  and  great  assistances, 
but  the  sum  of  affiiirs  does  not  rely  upon  them.  And  if  any 
man  puts  his  whole  repentance  upon  this  time,  or  all  his 
hopes  upon  these  ministries,  he  will  find  them  and  himself 
to  fail. 

10.  It  is  the  minister's  office  to  invite  sick  and  dying 
persons  to  the  holy  sacrament;  such,  whose  lives  were  fair 
and  laudable,  and  yet  their  sickness  sad  and  violent,  mak- 
ing them  listless  and  of  slow  desires,  and  slower  appre- 
hensions:  that  such  persons,  who  are  in  the  state  of  grace, 
may  lose  no  accidental  advantages  of  spiritual  improve- 
ment, but  may  receive  into  their  dying  bodies  the  symbols 
and  great  consignations  of  the  resurrection,  and  into  their 
souls  the  pledges  of  immortality  ;  and  may  appear  before 
God  their  Father  in  the  union,  and  with  the  impresses  and 


TllK  SICK  PENITENT.  191 

likeness,  of  their  elder  brother.  But  if  the  persons  be  of  ill 
report,  and  have  lived  wickedly,  they  are  not  to  be  invited; 
l)ecause  their  case  is  hugely  suspicious,  though  they  then 
repent  and  call  for  mercy  :  but  if  they  demand  it,  they 
are  not  to  be  denied  :  only  let  the  minister,  in  general,  re- 
present the  evil  consequents  of  an  unworthy  participation; 
and  if  the  penitent  will  judge  himself  unworthy,  let  him 
stand  candidate  for  pardon  at  the  hands  of  God,  and  stand 
or  fiill  by  that  unerring  and  merciful  sentence  ;  to  which, 
liis  severity  of  condemning  himself  before  men,  will  make 
the  easier  and  more  hopeful  address.  And  the  strictest 
among  the  Christians,  who  denied  to  reconcile  lapsed  per- 
sons after  baptism,  yet  acknowledged  that  there  were  hopes 
reserved  in  the  court  of  heaven  for  them,  though  not  here: 
since  we,  who  are  easily  deceived  by  the  pretences  of  a  real 
return,  are  tied  to  dispense  God's  graces,  as  he  hath  given 
us  commission,  with  fear  and  trembling,*  and  without  too 
forward  confidences ;  and  God  hath  mercies,  w^hich  we 
know  not  of;  and  therefore,  because  we  know  them  not, 
such  persons  were  referred  to  God's  tribunal,  where  he 
would  find  them,  if  they  were  to  be  had  at  all. 

11.  When  the  holy  sacrament  is  to  be  administered,  let 
the  exhortation  be  made  proper  to  the  mystery,  but  fitted 
to  the  man  ;  that  is,  that  it  be  used  for  the  advantages  of 
faith,  or  love,  or  contrition  ;  let  all  the  circumstances  and 
parts  of  the  Divine  love  be  represented,  all  the  mysterious 
advantages  of  the  blessed  sacrament  be  declared  ;  that  it  is 
the  bread  which  came  from  heaven  ;  that  it  is  the  repre- 
sentation of  Christ's  death  to  all  the  purposes  and  capa- 
cities of  faith,  and  the  real  exhibition  of  Christ's  body  and 
blood  to  all  the  purposes  of  the  Spirit;  that  it  is  the  earnest 
of  the  resurrection,  and  the  seed  of  a  glorious  immortality  ; 
that  as,  by  our  cognation  to  the  body  of  the  first  Adam, 
we  took  in  death,  so,  by  our  union  with  the  body  of  the 
second  Adam,  we  shall  have  the  inheritance  of  life;  (for  as 
by  Adam  came  death,  so  by  Christ  comeththe  resurrection 
of  the  dead  ;!)  that  if  we,  being  worthy  communicants  of 
these  sacred  pledges,  be  presented  to  God  with  Christ 
within  us,  our  being  accepted  of  God  is  certain,  even  foi 
the  sake  of  his  w^ell  beloved  that  dwells  within  us ;  that  this 
is  the  sacrament  of  that  body,  which  was  broken  for  oui 
sins,  of  that  blood,  which  purifies  our  souls,  by  which  wg 
*  1  Cor.  ii.  3.  t  1  Cor.  xv.  22. 


192  OF  ABSOLVING  AND  COMMUNICATING,  &c. 

are  presented  to  God  pure  and  holy  in  the  beloved  :  that 
now  we  may  ascertain  our  hopes,  and  make  our  faith  con- 
fident ;  "for  he  that  hath  given  us  his  Son,  how  should  not 
he,  with  him,  give  us  all  things  else  !"*  Upon  these,  or  the 
like  considerations,  the  sick  man  may  be  assisted  in  his 
address,  and  his  faith  strengthened,  and  his  hope  confirmed, 
and  his  charity  be  enlarged. 

12.  The  manner  of  the  sick  man's  reception  of  the  holy 
sacrament,  hath  in  it  nothing  differing  from  the  ordinary 
solemnities  of  the  sacrament,  save  only  that  abatement  is 
to  be  made  of  such  accidental  circumstances,  as,  by  the 
laws  and  customs  of  the  church,  healthful  persons  are 
obliged  to  ;  such  as  fasting,  kneeling,  6ic.  Though  I  re- 
member, that  it  was  noted  for  great  devotion  in  the  Legate 
that  died  at  Trent,  that  he  caused  himself  to  be  sustained 
upon  his  knees,  when  he  received  the  viaticum  or  the  holy 
sacrament  before  his  death  ;  and  it  was  greater  in  Huniades, 
that  he  caused  himself  to  be  carried  to  the  church,  tha< 
there  he  might  receive  his  Lord,  in  his  Lord's  house  ;  and 
it  was  recorded  for  honour,  that  William,  the  pious  arch- 
bishop of  Bourges,  a  small  time  before  his  last  agony, 
sprang  out  of  his  bed  at  the  presence  of  the  holy  sacrament, 
and,  upon  his  knees  and  his  face,  recommended  his  soul  to 
his  Saviour.  But  in  these  things  no  man  is  to  be  prejudiced 
or  censured. 

13.  Let  not  the  holy  sacrament  be  administered  to  dying 
persons,  when  they  have  no  use  of  reason  to  make  that 
duty  acceptable,  and  the  mysteries  effective  to  the  purposes 
of  the  soul.  For  the  sacraments  and  ceremonies  of  the 
gospel  operate  not  without  the  concurrent  actions  and 
moral  influences  of  the  suscipient.  To  infuse  the  chalice 
into  the  cold  lips  of  the  clinic  may  disturb  his  agony  :  but 
cannot  relieve  the  soul,  which  only  receives  improvement 
by  acts  of  grace  and  choice,  to  which  the  external  rites  are 
apt  and  appointed  to  minister  in  a  capable  person.  All 
other  persons,  as  fools,  children,  distracted  persons,  lethar- 
gical, apoplectical,  or  any  ways  senseless  and  incapable  of 
human  and  reasonable  acts,  are  to  be  assisted  only  by 
prayers :  for  they  may  prevail  even  for  the  absent,  and  foi 
enemies,  and  for  all  those  who  join  not  in  the  ofllice. 

*  Rom.  viii.  32. 


VISITATION  OF  SICK  PERSONS.  193 

SECTION   V. 

Of  ministering  to  the  sick  Person  by  the  spiritual  Man, 

as  he  is  the  Physician  of  Souls. 

1.  In  all  cases  of  receiving  confessions  of  sick  men,  and 
the  assisting  to  the  advancement  of  repentance,  the  minister 
is  to  apportion  to  every  kind  of  sin  such  spiritual  remedies, 
which  are  apt  to  mortify  and  cure  the  sin  ;  such  as  absti- 
nence from  their  occasions  and  opportunities,  to  avoid 
temptations,  to  resist  their  beginnings,  to  punish  the  crime 
by  acts  of  indignation  against  the  person,  fastings  and 
prayer,  alms  and  all  the  instances  of  charity,  asking  for- 
giveness, restitution  of  wrongs,  satisfaction  of  injuries,  acts 
of  virtue  contrary  to  the  crimes.  And  although,  in  great 
and  dangerous  sicknesses,  they  are  not  directly  to  be  im- 
posed, unless  they  are  direct  matters  of  duty  :  yet  where  they 
are  medicinal,  they  are  to  be  insinuated,  and  in  general 
signification  remarked  to  him,  and  undertaken  accordingly  : 
concerning  which,  when  he  returns  to  health,  he  is  to  re- 
ceive particular  advices.  And  this  advice  was  inserted  into 
the  penitential  of  England,  in  the  time  of  Theodore,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  afterward  adopted  into  the 
canon  of  all  the  western  churches. 

2.  The  proper  temptations  of  sick  men,  for  which  a 
remedy  is  not  yet  provided,  are  unreasonable  fears,  and  un- 
reasonable confidences,  which  the  minister  is  to  cure  by 
the  following  considerations. 

Considerations  against  unreasonable  Fears  of  not 
having  our  Si7is  pardoned. 

Many  good  men,  especially  such  who  have  tender  con- 
sciences, impatient  of  the  least  sin,  to  which  they  are  ar- 
rived by  a  long  grace,  and  a  continual  observation  of  their 
actions,  and  the  parts  of  a  lasting  repentance,  many  times 
overact  their  tenderness,  and  turn  their  caution  into  scruple, 
and  cate  of  their  duty  into  inquiries  after  the  event,  and 
askings  after  the  counsels  of  God,  and  the  sentences  of 
doomsday. 

He  that  asks  of  the  standers-by,  or  of  the  minister,  whe- 
ther they  think  he  shall  be  saved  or  damned,  is  to  be  an- 
swered with  the  words  of  pity  and  reproof.  Seek  not  after 
new  light  for  the  searching  into  the  privatest  record  of  God  : 
look  as  much  as  you  list  into  the  pages  of  revelation,  for 
they  concern  your  duty;  but  the  event  is  registered  in 
r  2  U 


194  CONSIDERATIONS  AGAINST 

heaven,  and  we  can  expect  no  other  certain  notices  of  it, 
but  that  it  shall  be  given  them,  for  whom  it  is  prepared  by 
the  Father  of  mercies.  We  have  light  enough  to  tell  our 
duty ;  and  if  we  do  that,  we  need  not  fear  what  the  issue 
will  be  ;  and  if  we  do  not,  let  us  never  look  for  more  light 
or  inquire  after  God's  pleasure  concerning  our  souls,  since 
we  so  little  serve  his  ends  in  those  things,  where  he  hath 
given  us  light.  But  yet  this  I  add,  that  as  pardon  of  sins, 
in  the  Old  Testament,*  was  nothing  but  removing  the 
punishment,  which  then  was  temporal,  and  therefore  many 
times  they  could  tell,  if  their  sins  were  pardoned  ;  and  con- 
cerning pardon  of  sins,  they  then  had  no  fears  of  conscience, 
but  while  punishment  was  on  them,  for  so  long  indeed 
it  was  unpardoned,  and  how  long  it  would  so  remain,  it 
was  matter  of  fear,  and  of  present  sorrow  :  besides  this,  in 
the  gospel,  pardon  of  sins  is  another  thing;  pardon  of  sins 
is  a  sanctification  ;  Christ  came  to  take  away  our  sins  by 
turning  every  one  of  us  from  our  iniquities  ;'\  and  there  is 
rot  in  the  nature  of  the  thing  any  expectation  of  pardon,  or 
sign  or  signification  of  it,  but  so  far  as  the  thing  itself  dis- 
covers itself.  As  we  hate  sin,  and  grow  in  grace,  and  arrive 
at  the  state  of  holiness  which  is  also  a  state  of  repentance 
and  imperfection,  but  yet  of  sincerity  of  heart  and  diligent 
endeavour  ,*  in  the  same  degree  we  are  to  judge  concerning 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  :  for  indeed  that  is  the  evangelical 
forgiveness,  and  it  signifies  our  pardon,  because  it  efi'ects 
it,  or  rather  it  is  in  the  nature  of  the  thing  ;  so  that  we  are 
to  inquire  into  no  hidden  records  :  forgiveness  of  sins  is 
not  a  secret  sentence,  a  word  or  a  record  :  but  it  is  a  state  of 
change,  and  effected  upon  us  :  and  upon  ourselves  we  are 
to  look  for  it,  to  read  it,  and  understand  it.  We  are  only 
to  be  curious  of  our  duty,  and  confident  of  the  article  of 
remission  of  sins  ;  and  the  conclusion  of  these  premises 
will  be,  that  we  shall  be  full  of  hopes  of  a  prosperous  re- 
surrection ;  and  our  fear  and  trembling  are  no  instances  of 
our  calamity,  but  parts  of  duty ;  we  shall  sure  enough  be 
wafted  to  the  shore,  although  we  be  tossed  with  the  winds 
of  our  sighs,  and  the  unevenness  of  our  fears,  and  the 
ebbings  and  flowings  of  our  passions,  if  we  sail  in  a  right 
channel,  and  steer  by  a  perfect  compass,  and  Icok  up  to 
God,  and  call  for  his  help,  and  do  our  own  endeavour. 
There  are  very  many  reasons,  why  men  ought  not  to  de- 
*  Matt.  ix.  6.  t  Acts  iii.  26. 


UNREASONABLE  FEARS  IN  SICKNESS.  195 

spair;  and  there  are  not  very  many  men,  that  ever  ^o  be- 
yond a  hope,  till  they  pass  into  possession.  If  our  fears 
have  any  mixture  of  hope,  that  is  enough  to  enable  and  to 
excite  our  duty  ;  and  if  we  have  a  strong-  hope,  when  we 
cast  about,  we  shall  find  reason  enough  to  have  many  fears. 
Let  not  this  fear  weaken  our  hands  ;  and  if  it  allay  our 
gaieties  and  our  confidences,  it  is  no  harm.  In  this  uncer- 
tainty we  must  abide,  if  we  have  committed  sins  after  bap- 
tism :  and  those  confidences,  which  some  men  glory  in,  are 
not  real  supports  or  good  foundations.  The  fearing  man 
is  the  safest;  and  if  he  fears  on  his  death-bed,  it  is  but 
what  happens  to  most  considering  men,  and  what  was  to  be 
looked  for  all  his  life-time  :  he  talked  of  the  terrors  of  death, 
and  death  is  the  king  of  terrors  :  and  therefore  it  is  no 
strange  thing,  if  then  he  be  hugely  afraid  ;  if  he  be  not,  it 
is  either  a  great  felicity  or  a  great  presumption.  But  if  he 
wants  some  degree  of  comfort,  or  a  greater  degree  of  hope, 
let  him  be  refreshed  by  considering, 

1.  That  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.*  2. 
That  God  delights  not  in  the  confusion  and  death  of  sin- 
ners.f  3.  That  in  heaven  there  is  great  joy  at  the  conver- 
sion of  a  sinner.:]:  4.  That  Christ  is  a  perpetual  advocate, 
daily  interceding  with  his  Father  for  our  pardon. §  5. 
That  God  uses  infinite  arts,  instruments,  and  devices,  to 
reconcile  us  to  himself.  6.  That  he  prays  us  to  be  in  cha- 
rity with  him  and  to  be  forgiven. ||  7.  That  he  sends  angels 
to  keep  us  from  violence  and  evil  company,  from  tempta- 
tions and  surprises,  and  his  Holy  Spirit  to  guide  us  in 
holy  ways,  and  his  servants  to  warn  us  and  remind  us  per- 
petually ;  and  therefore  since  certainly  he  is  so  desirous 
to  save  us,  as  appears  by  his  word,  by  his  oaths,  by  his  very 
nature,  and  his  daily  artifices  of  mercy  ;  it  is  not  likely 
that  he  will  condemn  us  without  great  provocations  of  his 
majesty,  and  perseverance  in  them.  8.  That  the  covenant 
of  the  gospel  is  a  covenant  of  grace  and  repentance,  and 
being  established  with  so  many  great  solemnities  and  mi- 
racles from  heaven,  must  signify  a  huge  favour  and  a  mighty 
change  of  things:  and  therefore  that  repentance,  which 
is  the  great  condition  of  it,  is  a  grace,  that  does  not  ex- 
pire in  little  accents  and  minutes,  but  hath  a  great  latitude 
of  signification,  and  large  extension  of  parts,  under  the  pro- 

*lTim.i.  15.  tEzek.xxxiii.il         t  Luke  xv.  7.         $  IJohn  ii.  1. 

II  2  Cor.  V.  20. 


196  CONSIDERATIONS  AGAINST 

tection  of  all  which  persons  are  safe,  even  when  they  fear 
exceedingly.  9.  That  there  are  great  degrees  and  differ- 
ences of  glory  in  heaven  ;  and  therefore,  if  we  estimate  our 
piety  by  proportions  to  the  more  eminent  persons  and  de- 
vouter  people,  we  are  not  to  conclude,  we  shall  not  enter 
into  the  same  state  of  glory,  but  that  we  shall  not  go  into 
the  same  degrees.  10.  That  although  forgiveness  of  sins 
is  consigned  to  us  in  baptism,  and  that  this  baptism  is  but 
once,  and  cannot  be  repeated,  yet  forgiveness  of  sins  is  the 
grace  of  the  gospel,  which  is  perpetually  remanent  upon 
us,  and  secured  unto  us  so  long  as  we  have  not  renounced 
our  baptism :  for  then  we  enter  into  the  condition  of  re- 
pentance ;  and  repentance  is  not  an  indivisible  grace,  or  a 
thing  performed  at  once,  but  is  working  all  our  lives ;  and 
therefore  so  is  our  pardon,  which  ebbs  and  flows,  according 
as  we  discompose  or  renew  the  decency  of  our  baptismal 
promises;  and  therefore  it  ought  to  be  certain,  that  no 
man  despair  of  pardon,  but  he  that  hath  voluntarily  re- 
nounced his  baptism,  or  willingly  estranged  himself  from 
that  covenant.  He  that  sticks  to  it,  and  still  professes  the 
religion,  and  approves  the  faith,  and  endeavours  to  obey 
and  to  do  his  duty,  this  man  hath  all  the  veracity  of  God 
to  assure  him  and  give  him  confidence,  that  he  is  not  in  an 
impossible  state  of  salvation,  unless  God  cuts  him  off,  be- 
fore he  can  work,  or  that  he  begins  to  work,  when  he  can 
no  longer  choose.  11.  And  then  let  him  consider,  the 
more  he  fears,  the  more  he  hates  his  sin,  that  is  the  cause 
of  it,  and  the  less  he  can  be  tempted  to  it,  and  the  more 
desirous  he  is  of  heaven  ;  and  therefore  such  fears  are  good 
instruments  of  grace,  and  good  signs  of  a  future  pardon. 
12.  That  God  in  the  old  law,  although  he  made  a  covenant 
of  perfect  obedience,  and  did  not  promise  pardon  at  all 
after  great  sins,  yet  he  did  give  pardon  and  declared  it  so 
to  them  for  their  own  and  for  our  sakes  too.  So  he  did  to 
David,  to  Manasses,  to  the  whole  nation  of  the  Israelites, 
ten  times  in  the  wilderness,  even  after  their  apostacies  and 
idolatries.  And  in  the  prophets,*  the  mercies  of  God  and 
his  remission  of  sins  were  largely  preached,  though,  in  the 
law,  God  put  on  the  robes  of  an  angry  judge,  and  a  severe 
lord.  But  therefore  in  the  gospel,  where  he  hath  established 
the  whole  sum  of  affairs  upon  faith  and  repentance,  if  God 
should  not  pardon  great  sinners,  that  repent  after  baptism, 

*Ezek.  xviii.    Joel  ii. 


UNREASONABLE  FEAKS  IN  SICKNESS.  197 

with  a  free  dispensation,  the  gospel  were  far  harder  than 
the  intolerable  covenant  of  the  law.  13.  That  if  a  prose- 
lyte went  into  the  Jewish  communion,  and  were  circum- 
cised and  baptized,  he  entered  into  all  the  hopes  of  good 
things,  which  God  had  promised,  or  would  give  to  his 
people  :  and  yet  that  was  but  the  covenant  of  works.  If 
then  the  Gentile  proselytes,  by  their  circumcision  and  le- 
gal baptism  wcie  admitted  to  a  state  of  pardon,  to  last  so 
long  as  they  were  in  the  covenant,  even  after  their  admis- 
sion, for  sins  committed  against  Moses's  law,  which  they 
then  undertook  to  observe  exactly  ;  in  the  gospel,  which 
is  the  covenant  of  faith,  it  must  needs  be  certain,  that  there 
is  a  greater  grace  given,  and  an  easier  condition  entered 
into,  than  w^as  that  of  the  Jewish  law :  and  that  is  nothing 
else,  but  that  abatement  is  made  for  our  infirmities,  and  our 
single  evils,  and  our  timely  repented  and  forsaken  habits 
of  sin,  and  our  violent  passions,  when  they  are  contested 
withal,  and  fought  with,  and  under  discipline,  and  in  the 
beginnings  and  progresses  of  mortification.  14.  That  God 
iiath  erected  in  his  church  a  whole  order  of  men,  the  main 
part  and  dignity  of  whose  work  it  is  to  remit  and  retain  sins 
by  a  perpetual  and  daily  ministry;  and  this  they  do,  not 
only  in  baptism,  but  in  all  their  offices  to  be  administered 
afterward ;  in  the  holy  sacrament  of  the  eucharist,  which 
exhibits  the  symbols  of  that  blood  which  was  shed  for  pardon 
of  our  sins,  and  therefore  by  its  continued  ministry  and  re- 
petition declares,  that  all  that  while  we  are  within  the  ordi- 
nary powers  and  usual  dispensations  of  pardon,  even  so  long- 
as  we  are  in  any  probable  dispositions  to  receive  that  holy 
sacrament.  And  the  same  eflect  is  also  signified  and  ex- 
hibited in  the  whole  power  of  the  keys,  which,  if  it  extends 
to  private  sins,  sins  done  in  secret,  it  is  certain  it  does  also 
to  public.  But  this  is  a  greater  testimony  of  the  certainty 
of  the  remissibility  of  our  greatest  sins  :  for  public  sins,  as 
they  always  have  a  sting  and  a  superadded  formality  of 
scandal  and  ill  example,  so  they  are  most  commonly  the 
greatest ;  such  as  murder,  sacrilege,  and  others  of  uncon- 
cealed nature,  and  unprivate  action  ;  and  if  God,  for  these 
worst  of  evils,  hath  appointed  an  office  of  ease  and  pardon, 
which  is,  and  may,  daily  be  administered,  that  will  be  an 
uneasy  pusillanimity  and  fond  suspicion  of  God's  good- 
ness, to  fear,  that  our  repentance  shall  be  rejected,  even 
though  we  have  committed  the  greatest,  or  the  most  of 
r2  2u  2"^ 


198  CONSIDERATIONS  AGAINST 

evils.  15.  And  it  was  concerning  baptized  Christians  that 
St.  John  said,  "  If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with 
the  Father,  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins  ;"  and  con- 
cerning lapsed  Christians,  St.  Paul  gave  instruction,  that, 
"  If  any  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye  which  are  spiritual 
restore  such  a  man  in  the  spirit  of  meekness  ;  considering^ 
lest  ye  also  be  tempted."  The  Corinthian  Christian  com- 
mitted incest,  and  was  pardoned  ;  and  Simon  Magus,  after 
he  was  baptized,  offered  to  commit  his  own  sin  of  simony  ; 
and  yet  St.  Peter  bid  him  pray  for  pardon  ;  and  St.  James 
tells,  that  "  if  the  sick  man  sends  for  the  elders  of  the 
church,  and  they  pray  over  him,  and  he  confesses  his  sins, 
they  shall  be  forgiven  him."  16.  That  only  one  sin  is  de- 
clared irremissible,  "  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
sin  unto  death,"  as  St.  John  calls  it,  for  which  we  are  not 
bound  to  pray  ;  for  all  others  we  are  :  and,  certain  it  is,  no 
man  commits  a  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  if  he  be  afraid 
he  hath,  and  desires  that  he  had  not ;  for  such  penitential 
passions  are  against  the  definition  of  that  sin.  17.  That 
all  the  sermons  in  the  Scripture  written  to  Christians  and 
disciples  of  Jesus,  exhorting  men  to  repentance,  to  be  af- 
flicted, to  mourn  and  to  weep,  to  confession  of  sins,  are  sure 
testimonies  of  God's  purpose  and  desire  to  forgive  us,  even 
when  we  fall  after  baptism :  and  if  our  fall  after  baptism 
were  irrecoverable,  then  all  preaching  were  in  vain,  and 
our  faith  Avere  also  in  vain,  and  we  could  not  with  comfort 
rehearse  the  Creed,  in  which,  as  soon  as  ever  we  profess 
Jesus  to  have  died  for  our  sins,  we  also  are  condemned  by 
our  own  conscience  of  a  sin,  that  shall  not  be  forgiven ; 
and  then  all  exhortations,  and  comforts,  and  fasts,  and  dis- 
ciplines were  useless  and  too  late,  if  they  were  not  given 
us  before  we  can  understand  them ;  for  most  commonly, 
as  soon  as  we  can,  we  enter  into  the  regions  of  sin  ; 
for  we  commit  evil  actions  before  we  understand,  and 
together  with  our  understanding  they  begin  to  be  imputed. 
18.  That  if  it  could  be  otherwise,  infants  were  very  ill 
provided  for  in  the  church,  who  were  baptized,  when 
they  have  no  stain  upon  their  brows,  but  the  misery  they 
contracted  from  Adam;  and  they  are  left  to  be  angels 
for  ever  after,  and  live  innocently  in  the  midst  of  their  ig- 
norances, and  weaknesses,  and  temptations,  and  the  heat 
and  follies  of  youth  ;  or  else  to  perish  in  an  eternal  ruin. 
We  cannot  think  or  speak  good  things  of  God,  if  we  en- 


UNREASONABLE  FEARS  IN  SICKNESS.  199 

tertain  such  evil  suspicions  of  tlic  mercies  of  the  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus.  19.  That  the  long  sufferance  and  pa- 
tience of  God  is  indeed  wonderful;  but  therefore  it  leaves 
us  in  certainties  of  pardon,  so  long  as  there  is  a  possibility 
to  return,  if  we  reduce  the  power  to  act.  20.  That  God 
calls  upon  us  to  forgive  our  brother  seventy  times  seven 
times ;  and  yet  all  that  is  but  like  the  forgiving  a  hundred 
pence  for  his  sake,  who  forgives  us  ten  thousand  talents : 
for  so  the  Lord  professed,  that  he  had  done  to  him,  that 
was  his  servant  and  his  domestic.  21.  That  if  we  can  for- 
give a  hundred  thousand  times,  it  is  certain  God  will  do 
so  to  us  ;  our  blessed  Lord  having  commanded  us  to  pray 
for  pardon,  as  we  pardon  our  offending  and  penitent  bro- 
ther. 22.  That  even  in  the  case  of  very  great  sins,  and 
great  judgments  inflicted  upon  the  sinners,  wise  and  good 
men  and  presidents  of  religion  have  declared  their  sense  to 
be,  that  God  spent  all  his  anger,  and  made  it  expire  in  that 
temporal  misery  ;  and  so  it  was  supposed  to  have  been  done 
in  the  case  of  Ananias ;  but  that  the  hope  of  any  penitent 
man  may  not  rely  upon  any  uncertainty,  we  find  in  holy 
Scripture,  that  those  Christians,  who  had,  for  their  scan- 
dalous crimes,  deserved  to  be  given  over  to  Satan  to  be 
buffeted,  yet  had  hopes  to  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord. 
23.  That  God  glories  in  the  titles  of  mercy  and  forgiveness, 
and  will  not  have  his  appellatives  so  finite  and  limited  as 
to  expire  in  one  act,  or  in  a  seldom  pardon.  24.  That 
man's  condition  were  desperate,  and  like  that  of  the  fallen 
angels  equally  desperate,  but  unequally  oppressed,  con- 
sidering our  infinite  weaknesses  and  ignorances  (in  respect 
of  their  excellent  understanding  and  perfect  choice,)  if  he 
could  be  admitted  to  no  repentance  after  his  infant  bap- 
tism ;  and  if  he  may  be  admitted  to  one,  there  is  nothing  in 
the  covenant  of  the  gospel,  but  he  may  also  to  a  second, 
and  so  for  ever,  as  long  as  he  can  repent,  and  return  and 
live  to  God  in  a  timely  religion.  25.  That  every  man  is  a 
sinner :  "  In  many  things  we  offend  all  ;"*  and,  "  if  we  say 
we  have  no  sin  we  deceive  ourselves  :""|"  and  therefore 
either  all  must  perish,  or  else  there  is  mercy  for  all ;  and 
so  there  is  upon  this  very  stock,  because  "  Christ  died  for 
sinners,":f:  and,  "  God  hath  comprehended  all  under  sin,  that 
he  might  have  mercy  upon  all."§  26.  That  if  ever  God 
sends  temporal  punishments  into  the  world  with  purposes 
*  James  iii.  2.  t  1  John  i.  8.  |  Rora.  v.  8.  $  Rom.  xi.  32. 


200  AN  EXERCISE  AGAINST  DESPAIR. 

of  amendment,  and  if  they  be  not,  all  of  them,  certain  con- 
sig-nations  to  hell,  and  unless  every  man,  that  breaks  his 
leg,  or  in  punishment  loses  a  child  or  wife,  be  certainly 
damned,  it  is  certain,  that  God,  in  these  cases,  is  angry  and 
loving,  chastises  the  sin  to  amend  the  person,  and  smites, 
that  he  may  cure,  and  judges,  that  he  may  absolve.  27. 
That  he  that  will  not  quench  the  smoking  flax,  nor  break 
the  bruised  reed,  will  not  tie  us  to  perfection,  and  the  laws 
and  measures  of  heaven  upon  earth ;  and  if,  in  every  pe- 
riod of  our  repentance,  he  is  pleased  with  our  duty,  and 
the  voice  of  our  heart  and  the  hand  of  our  desires,  he  hath 
told  us  plainly,  that  he  will  not  only  pardon  all  the  sins  of 
the  days  of  our  folly,  but  the  returns  and  surprises  of  sins 
in  the  days  of  repentance,  if  we  give  no  way,  and  allow  no 
affection,  and  give  no  place  to  any  thing,  that  is  God's 
enemy  :  all  the  past  sins,  and  all  the  seldom-returning  and 
ever-repented  evils  being  put  upon  the  accounts  of  the 
cross. 

An  Exercise  against  Despair,  in  the  Day  of  our  Death. 

To  which  may  be  added  this  short  exercise,  to  be  used 
for  the  curing  the  temptation  to  direct  despair,  in  case  that 
the  hope  and  faith  of  good  men  be  assaulted  in  the  day  of 
their  calamity. 

I  consider  that  the  ground  of  my  trouble  is  my  sin  ; 
and  if  it  were  not  for  that,  I  should  not  need  to  be  trou- 
bled ;  but  the  help,  that  all  the  world  looks  for,  is  such,  as 
supposes  a  man  to  be  a  sinner.  Indeed  if,  from  myself,  I 
were  to  derive  my  title  to  heaven,  then  my  sins  were  a  just 
argument  of  despair  ;  but  now  that  they  bring  me  to  Christ, 
that  they  drive  me  to  an  appeal  to  God's  mercies,  and  to  take 
sanctuary  in  the  cross,  they  ought  not,  they  cannot  infer  a 
just  cause  of  despair.  I  am  sure  it  is  a  stranger  thing,  that 
God  should  take  upon  him  hands  and  feet,  and  those  hands 
and  feet  should  be  nailed  upon  a  cross,  than  that  a  man 
should  be  partaker  of  the  felicities  of  pardon  and  life  eternal; 
and  it  were  stranger  yet  that  God  should  do  so  much  for 
man,  and  that  a  man  that  desires  it,  that  labours  for  it,  that  is 
in  life  and  possibilities  of  working  his  salvation,  should  in- 
evitably miss  that  end,  for  which  that  God  suff'ered  so 
much.  For  what  is  the  meaning,  and  what  is  the  extent, 
and  what  are  the  significations  of  the  Divine  mercy  in 
pardoning  sinners?     If  it  be  thought  a  great  matter  that  I 


AN  EXERCISE  AGAINST  DESPAIR.  201 

am  charged  with  original  sin,  I  confess  I  feel  the  weight 
of  it  in  loads  of  temporal  infelicities,  and  proclivities  to 
sin;  but  1  fear  not  the  guilt  of  it,  since  I  am  baptized; 
and  it  cannot  do  honour  to  the  reputation  of  God's  mercy, 
that  it  should  be  all  spent  in  remissions  of  what  I  never 
chose,  never  acted,  never  knew  of,  could  not  help,  concern- 
ing which  I  received  no  commandment,  no  prohibition. 
But,  blessed  be  God,  it  is  ordered  in  just  measures,  that 
that  original  evil,  which  I  contracted  without  my  will, 
should  be  taken  away  without  my  knowledge ;  and  what  I 
suffered  before  I  had  a  being,  was  cleansed  before  I  had 
a  useful  understanding.  But  1  am  taught  to  believe  God's 
mercies  to  be  infinite,  not  only  in  himself,  but  to  us ;  for 
mercy  is  a  relative  term,  and  we  are  its  correspondents : 
of  all  the  creatures  which  God  made,  we  only,  in  a  proper 
sense,  are  the  subjects  of  mercy  and  remission.  Angels 
have  more  of  God's  bounty  than  we  have,  but  not  so  much 
of  his  mercy ;  and  beasts  have  little  rays  of  his  kindness, 
and  effects  of  his  wisdom  and  graciousness  in  pretty  dona- 
tives; but  nothing  of  mercy  :  for  they  have  no  laws,  and 
therefore  no  sins,  and  need  no  mercy,  nor  are  capable  of 
any.  Since,  therefore,  man  alone  is  the  correlative  or 
proper  object  and  vessel  of  reception  of  an  infinite  mercy, 
and  that  mercy  is  in  giving  and  forgiving,  I  have  reason 
to  hope,  that  he  will  so  forgive  me,  that  my  sins  shall 
not  hinder  me  of  heaven  ;  or  because  it  is  a  gift,  I  may  also, 
upon  the  stock  of  the  same  infinite  mercy,  hope,  he  will 
give  heaven  to  me ;  and  if  I  have  it  either  upon  the  title 
of  giving  or  forgiving,  it  is  alike  to  me,  and  will  alike  mag- 
nify the  glories  of  the  Divine  mercy.  And  because  eternal 
life  is  the  gift  of  God,*  I  have  less  reason  to  despair :  for 
if  my  sins  were  fewer,  and  my  disproportions  towards  such 
a  glory  were  less,  and  my  evenness  more  ;  yet  it  is  still  a 
gift,  and  I  could  not  receive  it  but  as  a  free  and  a  gracious 
donative  ;  and  so  I  may  still ;  God  can  still  give  it  me  ; 
and  it  is  not  an  impossible  expectation  to  wait  and  look 
for  such  a  gift  at  the  hands  of  the  God  of  mercy :  the  best 
men  deserve  it  not ;  and  I,  who  am  the  worst,  may  have  it 
given  me.  And  I  consider,  that  God  hath  set  no  mea- 
sures of  his  mercy,  but  that  we  be  within  the  covenant ; 
that  is,  repenting  persons,  endeavouring  to  serve  him  with 
an  honest  single  heart ;  and  that  within  this  covenant, 
*  Rom.  vi.  23. 


§02  AN  EXERCISE  AGAINST  DESPAIR. 

there  is  a  very  great  latitude,  and  variety  of  persons,  and 
degrees,  and  capacities ;  and  therefore,  that  it  cannot 
stand  with  the  proportions  of  so  infinite  a  mercy,  that  obe- 
dience be  exacted  to  such  a  point,  which  he  never  express- 
ed, unless  it  should  be  the  least,  and  that  to  which  ail  ca- 
pacities, though  otherwise  unequal,  are  fitted  and  suthcient- 
ly  enabled.  But,  however,  I  find,  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
taught  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  to  apply  to  us 
all  in  general,  and  to  every  single  person  in  particular, 
some  gracious  words,  which  God,  iri  the  Old  Testament, 
spake  to  one  man,  upon  a  special  occasion,  in  a  single  and 
temporal  instance.  Such  are  the  words  v/hich  God  spake 
to  Joshua ;  "  I  will  never  fail  thee  nor  forsake  thee  ;" 
and,  upon  the  stock  of  that  promise,  St.  Paul  forbids  covet- 
ousness,  and  persuades  contentedness,*  because  those 
words  were  spoken  by  God  to  Joshua  in  another  case.  If 
the  gracious  words  of  God  have  so  great  extension  of 
parts,  and  intention  of  kind  puiposes,  then  how  many  com- 
forts have  we,  upon  the  stock  of  all  the  excellent  words, 
which  are  spoken  in  the  prophets  and  in  the  Psalms?  and 
I  xvill  never  more  question,  whether  they  be  spoken  con- 
cerning me,  having  such  an  authentic  precedent  so  to 
expound  the  excellent  words  of  God  ;  all  the  treasures  of 
God  which  are  in  the  Psalms,  are  my  own  riches,  and  the 
wealth  of  my  hope  ;  there  will  I  look  ;  and  whatsoever  I 
can  need,  that  I  will  depend  upon.  For  certainly  if  we 
could  understand  it,  that  which  is  infinite  (as  God  is)  must 
needs  be  some  such  kind  of  thing;  it  must  go  whither  it 
was  never  sent,  and  signify  what  was  not  first  intended, 
and  it  must  warm  Avith  its  light,  and  shine  with  its  heat, 
and  refresh  when  it  strikes,  and  heal  when  it  wounds,  and 
ascertain  where  it  makes  afraid,  and  intend  all  when  it 
warns  one,  and  mean  a  great  deal  in  a  small  word.  And  as 
tJie  sun,  passing  to  its  southern  tropic,  looks  with  an  open 
eye  upon  his  sun-burnt  ^Ethiopians,  but  at  the  same  time 
sends  light  from  its  posterns  and  collateral  influences 
from  the  back-side  of  his  beams,  and  sees  the  corners  of 
the  east,  when  his  face  tends  towards  the  v»'est,  because  he 
is  a  round  body  of  fire,  and  hath  some  little  images  and 
resemblances  of  the  Infinite;  so  is  God's  mercy  :  when  it 
looked  upon  Moses,  it  relieved  St.  Paul,  and  it  pardoned 
David,  and  gave  hope  to  Manasses,  and  might  have  re- 
*  Heb.  xiii.  5. 


AN  EXERCISE  AGAINST  DESPAIR.  203 

stored  Judas,  if  he  would  have  had  hope,  and  used  him- 
self accordingly.  But  as  to  my  own  case,  I  have  sinned 
grievously  and  frequently  :  but  I  have  repented  it ;  but  I 
have  begged  pardon  ;  I  have  confessed  it  and  forsaken  it. 
I  cannot  undo  what  was  done,  and  I  perish,  if  God  hath 
appointed  no  remedy,  if  there  be  no  remission;  but  then 
my  religion  falls  together  with  my  hope,  and  God's  word 
Aiils  as  well  as  I.  But  1  believe  the  article  of  forgiveness 
of  sins  ;  and  if  there  be  any  such  thing,  I  may  do  well ;  for 
I  have,  and  do,  and  will  do  that,  which  all  good  men  call 
repentance;  that  is,  I  will  be  humbled  before  God,  and 
mourn  for  my  sin,  and  for  ever  ask  forgiveness,  and  judge 
myself,  and  leave  it  with  haste,  and  mortify  it  with  dili- 
gence, and  watch  against  it  carefully.  And  this  I  can  do 
but  in  the  manner  of  a  man  ;  I  can  but  mourn  for  my  sins, 
as  I  apprehend  grief  in  other  instances ;  but  I  will  rather 
choose  to  suffer  all  evils,  than  to  do  one  deliberate  act 
of  sin.  1  know,  my  sins  arc  greater  than  my  sorrow,  and 
too  many  for  my  memory,  and  too  insinuating  to  be  pre- 
vented l3y  all  my  care  ;  but  I  know  also,  that  God  knows 
and  pities  my  infirmities  ;  and  how  far  that  will  extend,  I 
know  not,  but  thrt  it  will  reach  so  far,  as  to  satisfy  my 
needs  is  the  matter  of  my  hope.  But  this  I  am  sure  of, 
that  I  have,  in  my  great  necessity,  prayed  humbly  and  with 
great  desire,  and  sometimes  I  have  been  heard  in  kind, 
and  sometimes  have  had  a  bigger  mercy  instead  of  it;  and 
I  have  the  hope  of  prayers,  and  the  hope  of  my  confession, 
and  the  hope  of  my  endeavour,  and  the  hope  of  ma-iy 
promises,  and  of  God's  essential  goodness ;  and  I  am  sure 
that  God  hath  heard  my  prayers,  and  verified  his  promises 
in  temporal  instances,  for  he  ever  gave  me  sufficient  for  my 
life  ;  and  although  he  promised  such  supplies,  and  grounded 
the  confidences  of  them  upon  our  first  seeking  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  and  its  righteousness,  yet  he  hath  verified  it  to 
me  who  have  not  sought  it  as  I  ought ;  but  therefore  I 
hope  he  accepted  my  endeavour,  or  will  give  his  great 
gifts  and  our  great  expectation  even  to  the  weakest  en- 
deavour; to  the  least,  so  it  be  a  hearty  piety.  And  some- 
times I  have  had  some  cheerful  visitations  of  God's  Spirit, 
and  my  cup  hath  been  crowned  with  comfort,  and  the  wine 
that  made  my  heart  glad,  danced  in  the  chalice,  and  1 
was  glad,  that  God  would  have  me  so;  and  therefore  I 
hope,  this  cloud  may  pass ;  for  that,  Avhich  was  then  a 


204  AN  EXERCISE  AGAINST  DESPAIR. 

real  cause  of  comfort,  is  so  still,  if  I  could  discern  it ;  and 
I  shall  discern  it,  when  the  vail  is  taken  from  mine  eyes. 
And,  (blessed  be  God,)  I  can  still  remember,  that  there 
are  temptations  to  despair ;  and  they  could  not  be  tempta- 
tions if  they  were  not  apt  to  persuade,  and  had  seeming 
probability  on  their  side  ;  and  they  that  despair,  think  they 
do  it  with  great  reason;  for  if  they  were  not  confident 
of  the  reason,  but  that  it  v/ere  such  an  argument  as  might 
be  opposed  or  suspected,  then  they  could  not  despair.  De- 
spair assents  as  firmly  and  strongly  as  faith  itself;  but  be- 
cause it  is  a  temptation,  and  despair  is  a  horrid  sin,  there- 
fore it  is  certain,  those  persons  are  unreasonably  abused, 
and  they  have  no  reason  to  despair,  for  all  their  confidence ; 
and  therefore,  although  I  have  strong  reasons  to  condemn 
myself,  yet  I  have  more  reason  to  condemn  my  despair, 
which  therefore  is  unreasonable  because  it  is  a  sin,  and  a 
dishonour  to  God,  and  a  ruin  to  my  condition,  and  veri- 
fies itself,  if  I  do  not  look  to  it.  For  as  the  hypochondriac 
person  that  thought  himself  dead,  made  his  dream  true, 
when  he  starved  himself,  because  dead  people  eat  not :  so 
do  despairing  sinners  lose  God's  mercies,  by  refusing  to  use 
and  to  believe  them.  And  I  hope  it  is  a  disease  of  judg- 
ment not  an  intolerable  condition,  that  I  am  falling  into : 
because  I  have  been  told  so  concerning  others  who  there- 
fore have  been  afflicted,  because  they  see  not  their  pardon 
sealed  after  the  manner  of  this  world,  and  the  aflfairs  of 
the  Spirit  are  transacted  by  immaterial  notices,  by  propo- 
sitions and  spiritual  discourses,  by  promises,  which  are  to 
be  verified  hereafter ;  and  here  Ave  must  live  in  a  cloud,  in 
darkness  under  a  veil,  in  fear  and  uncertainties,  and  our 
very  living  by  faith  and  hope  is  a  life  of  mystery  and  secre- 
cy, the  only  part  of  the  manner  of  that  life,  in  which  we 
shall  live  in  the  state  of  separation.  And  when  a  distemper 
of  body  or  an  infirmity  of  mind,  happens  in  the  instances 
of  such  secret  and  reserved  affairs,  we  may  easily  mistake 
the  manner  of  our  notices  for  the  uncertainty  of  the  thing ; 
and  therefore  it  is  but  reason,  I  should  stay,  till  the  state 
and  manner  of  my  abode  be  changed,  before  I  despair : 
there  it  can  be  no  sin,  nor  error :  here  it  may  be  both  ;  and 
if  it  be  that,  it  is  also  this ;  and  then  a  man  may  perish  for 
being  miserable,  and  be  undone  for  being  a  fool.  In  con- 
clusion, my  hope  is  in  God,  and  1  will  trust  him  with  the 
event,  which  I  am  sure  will  be  just,  and  I  hope  full  of 


CONSIDERATIONS  AGAINST  PRESUMPTION.  205 

mercy.  IlowtjVef,  now  I  will  use  all  the  spiritual  arts  of 
reason  and  religion  to  make  mo  more  and  more  to  love 
God,  that  if  I  miscarry,  ciiarity  also  shall  fail,  and  something 
that  loves  God  shall  perish  and  be  damned  ;  which  if  it  be 
possible,  then  I  may  do  well. 

These  considerations  may  be  riscful  to  men  of  little 
hearts,  and  of  great  piety  :  or  if  they  be  persons,  who  have 
lived  without  infamy,  or  begun  their  repentance  so  late, 
that  it  is  very  imperfect,  and  yet  so  early,  that  it  was  be- 
fore tiie  arrest  of  death.  But  if  the  man  be  a  vicious  per- 
son, and  hrth  persevered  in  a  vicious  life  till  his  death  bed, 
these  considerations  are  not  proper.  Let  him  inquire  in 
the  words  of  the  first  disciples  after  Pentecost,  "  Men  and 
brethren,  what  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  1"  and  if  they  can 
but  entertain  so  much  hope  as  to  enable  them  to  do  so 
much  of  their  duty,  as  they  can  for  the  present,  it  is  all 
that  can  be  provided  for  them ;  an  inquiry,  in  their  case, 
can  have  no  other  purposes  of  religion  or  prudence.  And 
the  minister  must  be  infinitely  careful,  that  he  do  not  go 
about  to  comfort  vicious  persons  with  the  comforts  belong- 
ing to  God's  elect,  lest  he  prostitute  holy  things,  and 
make  them  common,  and  his  sermons  deceitful,  and  vices 
be  encouraged  in  others,  and  the  man  himself  find,  that 
he  was  deceived,  when  he  descends  into  his  house  of 
sorrow. 

But  because  very  few  rnen  are  tempted  with  too  great 
fears  of  failing,  but  very  many  are  tempted  by  confidence 
and  presumption ;  the  ministers  of  religion  had  need  be 
instructed  with  spiritual  arm.our  to  resist  this  fiery  dart  of 
the  devil,  when  it  operates  to  evil  purposes. 

SECTION  VI. 
Considerations  against  Presumption. 
I  HAVE  already  enumerated  many  particulars  to  provoke 
a  drowsy  conscience  to  a  scrutiny  and  to  a  suspicion  of 
himself,  that  by  seeing  cause  to  suspect  his  condition,  he 
might  more  freely  accuse  himself,  and  attend  to  the  neces- 
sities and  duties  of  repentance  ;  but  if  either  before,  or  in 
his  repentance,  he   grow  too  big  in  his  spirit,  so  as  cither 
he  does  some  little  violence  to  the  modesties  of  humility, 
or  abates  his  care  and   zeal  of  his  repentance,  the  spirtual 
man  must  allay  his  forwardness  by  representing  to  him, 
1.  That  the  growths  in  grace  are  long,  diflScult,  uncertain, 
s  2X 


^06  REMEDIES  AGAINST 

hindered,  of  many  parts  and  great  variety.     2.  That  an 
infant  grace  is  soon  dashed  and  discountenanced,  often 
running  into  an  inconvenience  and  the  evils  of  an  impru- 
dent conduct,  being  zealous,  and  forward,  and  therefore 
confident  but  always  with  the  least  reason,  and  the  great- 
est danger ;  like  children  and  young  fellows,  whose  confi- 
dence hath  no  other  reason,  but  that  they  understand  not 
their  danger  and  their  follies.     3.  That  he  that  puts  on  his 
armour,  ought  not  to  boast,  as  he  that  puts  it  off;  and  the 
apostle  chides  the  Giilatians  for  ending  in  the  flesh,  after 
they  had  begun  in  the  spirit.     4.  That  a  man  cannot  think 
too  meanly  of  himself,  but  very  easily  he  may  think  too 
high.     5.  That  a  wise  man  will  always  in  a  matter  of  great 
concernment  think  the  worst,  and  a  good  man  will  condemn 
himself  with  hearty  sentence.     6.  That  humility  and  mo- 
desty of  judgment  and  of  hope  are  very  good  instruments 
to  procure  a  mercy  and  a  fair  reception  at  the  day  of  our 
death ;  but  presumption  or  bold  opinions  serve  no  end  of 
God  or  man,  and  is  always  imprudent,  ever  fatal,  and  of 
all  things  in  the  w^orld  is  its  own  greatest  enemy  ;  for  the 
more  any  man  presumes,  the  greater  reason  he  hath  to  fear. 
7.  That  a  man's  heart  is  infinitely  deceitful,  unknown  to 
itself,  not  certain  in  his  own   acts,  praying  one  way,  and 
desiring   another,    Avandcring    and    imperfect,    loose    and 
various,  worshipping  God,  and  entertaining  sin,  following 
what  it  hates,  and  running  from  what  it  flatters,  loving  to 
be  tempted  and  betrayed  :  petulant  like  a  wanton  girl  run- 
ning from,  that  it  might  invite  the   fondness  and   enrage 
the  appetite  of  the  foolish  youpg  man,  or  the  evil  temptation 
that  follows  it ;  cold  and  indifferent  one  while,  and  pre- 
sently zealous  and  passionate,  furious  and  indiscreet ;  not 
understood  of  itself,  or  any  one  else,  and  deceitful  beyond 
all  the  arts  and  numbers  of  observation.  8.  That  it  is  certain, 
we  have  highly  sinned  against  God,  but  we  are  not  so  cer- 
tain, that  out  repentance  is  real  and  effective,  integral  and 
suflicient.     9.  That  it  is  not  revealed  to  us,  whether  or  no 
the  time  of  our  repentance  be  not  past;  or,  if  it  be  not,  yet 
how  far  God  will  give  us  pardon,  and  upon  wdiat  condition, 
or  after  what  sufferings  or  duties,  is  still  under  a  cloud. 
10.  That  virtue  and  vice  are  oftentimes  so  near  neighbours, 
that  we  pass  into  each  other's  borders  without  observation, 
and    think  we  do  justice,  when  we  are  cruel ;  or  call  our- 
selves  liberal,  when  we  are  loose  and  foolish  in  expenses ; 


PRESUMPTION.  207 

and  arc  amorous,  when  wc  commend  our  own  civilities  and 
good  nature.  11.  'J'liat  wc  allow  to  ourselves  so  many 
little  irrcguliiritics,  that  insensibly  they  swell  to  so  great  a 
heaj),  that  (Vom  thence  wc  have  reason  to  fear  an  evil  :  for 
an  army  of  fro/^s  and  flies  may  destroy  all  the  hopes  of  our 
harvest.  12.  That  when  we  do  that  which  is  lawful,  and 
do  all  that  we  can  in  those  boimds,  wc  commonly  and  ea- 
sily run  out  of  our  pro])ortions.  13.  That  it  is  not  easy 
to  distinguish  the  virtues  of  our  nature  from  the  virtues  of 
OUT  choice  ;  and  wc  may  expect  the  reward  of  terpperance, 
when  it  is  against  our  nature  to  be  drunk  ;  or  we  hope  to 
have  the  coronet  of  virgins  for  our  morose  disjjosition,  or 
our  abstinence  from  marriage  upon  secular  ends.  14.  That, 
it  may  be,  we  call  every  little  sigh,  or  the  keeping  a  fish- 
day  the  duty  of  repentance,  or  have  entertained  false  prin- 
ciples in  the  estimate  and  measures  of  virtues  :  and,  con- 
trary to  that  steward  in  the  gospel,  we  write  down  four- 
score, when  we  should  set  down  but  fifty.  15.  That  it  is 
better  to  trust  the  goodness  and  justice  of  God  with  our 
accounts,  than  to  offer  him  large  bills.  16.  That  we  are 
commanded  by  Christ  to  sit  down  in  the  lowest  place,  till 
the  master  of  the  house  bids  us  sit  up  higher.  17.  That 
"W'hen  we  have  done  all  that  we  can,  we  are  unprofitable 
servants :"  and  yet  no  man  does  all  that  he  can  do  ;  and 
therefore  is  more  to  be  despised  and  undervalued.  18.  That 
the  self-accusing  publican  was  justified  rather  than  the 
thanksgiving  and  confident  Pharisee.  19.  That  if  Adam 
in  Paradise,  and  David  in  his  house,  and  Solomon  in  the 
temple,  and  Peter  in  Christ's  family,  and  Judas  in  the  col- 
lege of  apostles,  and  Nicholas  among  the  deacons,  and  the 
angels  in  heaven  itself,  did  fall  so  foully  and  dishonestly  ; 
then  it  is  prudent  advice,  that  we  be  not  high-minded,  but 
fear :  and,  when  we  stand  most  confidently,  take  heed  lest 
we  fall :  and  yet  there  is  nothing  so  likely  to  make  us  fall 
as  pride  and  great  opinions,  which  ruined  the  angels,  which 
God  resists,  which  all  men  despise,  and  which  betrays  us 
into  carelessness,  and  a  reckless,  undiscerning,  and  an  un- 
wary spirit. 

4.  Now  the  main  parts  of  the  ecclesiastical  ministry  arc 
done ;  and  that  w^hich  remains  is,  that  the  minister  pray 
over  him,  and  remind  him  to  do  good  actions  as  he  is  ca- 
pable ;  to  call  upon  God  for  pardon  :  to  put  his  v.hole 
trust  in  him;  to  resign  himself  to  God's  disposing  ;  to  be 


208  PRAYERS  AT  THE 

patient  and  even  ;  to  renounce  every  ill  word,  or  thought, 
or  indecent  action,  which  the  violence  of  his  sickness  may 
cause  in  him  ;  to  beg  of  God  to  give  him  his  Holy  Spirit  to 
guide  him  in  his  agony  ;  and  his  holy  angels  to  guard  him 
in  his  passage. 

5.  Whatsoever  is  besides  this,  concerns  the  standers-by ; 
that  they  do  all  their  ministries  diligently  and  temperate- 
ly ;  that  they  join  with  much  charity  and  devotion  in  the 
prayer  of  the  minister :  that  they  make  no  outcries  or  ex- 
clamations in  the  departure  of  the  soul  ;  and  that  they 
make  no  judgment  concerning  the  dying  person,  by  his 
dying  quietly  or  violently,  with  comfort  or  without,  with 
great  fears  or  a  cheerful  confidence,  with  sense  or  without, 
like  a  lamb  or  like  a  lion,  with  convulsions  or  semblances 
of  great  pain,  or  like  an  expiring  and  a  spent  candle  ;  for 
these  happen  to  all  men,  without  rule,  without  any  known 
reason,  but  according  as  God  pleases  to  dispense  the  grace 
or  the  punishment,  for  reasons  only  known  to  himself.  Let 
us  lay  our  hands  upon  our  mouth,  and  adore  the  mysteries 
of  the  Divine  wisdom  and  providence,  and  pray  to  God  to 
give  the  dying  man  rest  and  pardon,  and  to  ourselves 
grace  to  live  well,  and  the  blessing  of  a  holy  and  a  happy 
death. 

SECTION  VII. 
Offices  to  he  said  hy  the  Minister,  in  his  visitation  of  the  Sick. 

In  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holv 
Ghost. 

"  Our  Father,  which  art  in  heaven,"  &c. 

Let  the  Priest  say  this  Prayer  secretly. 

O  eternal  Jesus,  thou  great  lover  of  souls,  who  hast  con- 
stituted a  ministry  in  the  church  to  glorify  thy  name,  and 
to  serve  in  the  assistance  of  those  that  come  to  thee  pro- 
fessing thy  discipline  and  service,  give  grace  to  me  the  un- 
worthiest  of  thy  servants,  that  I,  in  this  my  ministry,  may 
purely  and  zealously  intend  thy  glory,  and  eflectually  may 
minister  comfort  and  advantages  to  this  sick  person  (whom 
God  assoil  from  all  his  offences ;)  and  grant  that  nothing 
of  thy  grace  may  perish  to  him  by  the  unworthiness  of  the 
minister;  but  let  thy  Spirit  speak  by  me,  and  give  me  pru- 
dence and  charity,  wisdom  and  diligence,  good  observa- 
tion and  apt  discourses,  a  certain  judgrnent  and  merciful 
dispensation,  that   the   soul  of  thy  servant  may  pass  from 


VISIT ATlOiX  or  Till':  SICK.  209 

this  state  of  imjicrfcction  to  the  perfections  of  the  state  of 
glory,  through  thy  mercies,  O  eternal  Jesus.     Amen. 

The  Psalm. 

Out  of  the  depths  have  I  cried  unto  thee,  O  Lord.  Lord, 
liear  my  voice  :  let  thine  ears  be  attentive  to  the  voice  of 
my  suj)p]ications. 

If  thou,  Lord,  shouldest  mark  iniquities,  O  Lord,  who 
should  stand  ? 

But  there  is  forgiveness  with  thee,  that  thou  maycst  be 
feared. 

I  wait  for  the  Lord  :  my  soul  doth  wait ;  and  in  his  word 
do  I  hope. 

My  soul  waiteth  for  the  Lord,  more  than  they  that  watch 
for  the  morning. 

Let  Israel  hope  in  the  Lord  ;  for  with  the  Lord  there  is 
mercy,  and  with  him  is  plenteous  redemption. 

And  he  shall  redeem  his  servants  from  all  their  iniquities. 
Psal.  ex XX. 

Wherefore  should  I  fear  in  the  days  of  evil,  when  the 
wickedness  of  my  heels  shall  compass  me  about?  Psal. 
xlix.  5. 

No  man  can,  by  any  means,  redeem  his  brother,  nor  give 
to  God  a  ransom  for  him.     Ver.  7. 

For  the  redemption  of  their  soul  is  precious,  and  it 
ceaseth  for  ever.     Ver.  8. 

That  he  should  still  live  for  ever,  and  not  see  corruption. 
Ver.  9. 

But  wise  men  die,  likewise  the  fool  and  the  brutish  per- 
son perish,  and  leave  their  wealth  to  others.     Ver.  10. 

But  God  will  redeem  my  soul  from  the  power  of  the 
grave  :  for  he  shall  receive  me.     Ver.  15. 

As  for  me,  I  will  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness :  I 
shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake  in  thv  likeness.  Psal.  xvii. 
15. 

Thou  shalt  show  me  the  path  of  life  :  in  thy  presence  is 
the  fulness  of  joy :  at  thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for 
evermore.     Psal  xvi.  11. 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  &;c. 
As  it  was  in  the  beginning,  dz;c. 

Let  ns  pray. 
Almighty  God,  father  of  mercies,  the  God  of  peace  and 
comfort,  of  rest  and  pardon,  we,  thy  servants,  though  un- 
52  2x2 


210  PRAYERS  AT  THE 

worthy  to  pray  to  thee,  yet,  in  duty  to  thee  and  charity  to 
our  brother,  humbly  beg  mercy  of  thee  for  him  to  descend 
upon  his  body  and  his  soul  :  one  sinner,  O  Lord,  for  another, 
the  miserable  for  the  afflicted,  the  poor  for  him  that  is  in 
need  :  but  thou  givest  thy  graces  and  thy  favours  by  the 
measures  of  thy  own  mercies,  and  in  proportion  to  our  ne- 
cessities. We  humbly  come  to  thee  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
for  the  merit  of  our  Saviour,  and  the  mercies  of  our  God, 
praying  thee  to  pardon  the  sins  of  this  thy  servant,  and  to 
put  them  all  upon  the  accounts  of  the  cross,  and  to 
bury  them  in  the  grave  of  Jesus  :  that  they  may  never  rise 
up  in  judgment  against  thy  servant,  nor  bring  him  to 
shame  and  confusion  of  face  in  the  day  of  final  inquiry  and 
sentence.     Amen. 

II. 

Give  thy  servant  patience  in  his  sorrows,  comfort  in  this 
his  sickness,  and  restore  him  to  health,  if  it  seem  good  to 
thee,  in  order  to  thy  great  ends,  and  his  greatest  interest. 
And  however  thou  shalt  determine  concerning  him  in  this 
affair,  yet  make  his  repentance  perfect,  and  his  passage 
safe,  and  his  faith  strong,  and  his  hope  modest  and  confi- 
dent ;  that  when  thou  shalt  call  his  soul  from  the  prison  of 
the  body,  it  may  enter  into  the  securities  and  rest  of  the 
sons  of  God,  in  the  bosom  of  blessedness,  and  the  custodies 
of  Jesus.     Amen. 

III. 

Thou,  O  Lord,  knowest  all  the  necessities  and  all  the 
infirmities  of  thy  servant :  fortify  his  spirit  with  spiritual 
joys  and  perfect  resignation,  and  take  f»-om  him  all  degrees 
of  inordinate  or  insecure  affections  to  this  world,  and  en- 
large his  heart  with  desires  of  being  with  thee,  and  of 
freedom  from  sins,  and  fruition  of  God. 
IV. 

Lord,  let  not  any  pain  or  passion  discompose  the  order 
and  decency  of  his  thoughts  and  duty  ;  and  lay  no  more 
upon  thy  servant,  than  thou  wilt  make  him  able  to  bear, 
and  together  with  the  temptation  do  thou  provide  a  way 
to  escape  ;  even  by  the  mercies  of  a  longer  and  a  more 
holy  life,  or  by  the  mercies  of  a  blessed  death  :  even  as  it 
pleaseth  thee,  O  Lord,  so  let  it  be. 

V. 

Let  the  tenderness  of  his  conscience  and  the  Spirit  of 
God  call  to  mind  his  sins,  that  they  may  be  confessed  and 


VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK.  211 

repented  of ;  because  thou  hast  promised,  that  if  we  con- 
fess our  sins,  we  shall  have  mercy.  Let  thy  mighty  grace 
draw  out  from  his  soul  every  root  of  bitterness,  lest  the 
remains  of  the  old  man  be  accursed  with  the  reserves  of 
thy  wrath  :  but  in  the  union  of  tiie  holy  Jesus,  and  in  the 
charities  of  God  and  of  the  world,  and  the  communion  of 
all  the  saints,  let  this  soul  be  presented  to  thee  blameless, 
and  entirely  pardoned,  and  thoroughly  washed,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

Here  also  may  be  inserted  the  Prayers  set  doicn  after  the 

Holy  Commwiion  is  administered. 
The  Prayer  of  St.  Eustatius  the  Martyr,  to  be  used  by  the 

sick  or  dying  man,  or  by  the  priests  or  assistants  in  his 

behalf,  which  he  said,  when  he  was  going  to  martyrdom. 

I  will  praise  thee,  O  Lord,  that  thou  hast  considered  my 
low  estate,  and  hast  not  shut  me  up  in  the  hands  of  mine 
enemies,  nor  made  my  foes  to  rejoice  over  me  :  and  now 
let  thy  right  hand  protect  me,  and  let  thy  mercy  come  upon 
me;  for  my  soul  is  in  trouble  and  anguish  because  of  its 
departure  from  the  body.  O  let  not  the  assemblies  of  its 
wicked  and  cruel  enemies  meet  it  in  the  passing  forth,  nor 
hinder  me  by  reason  of  the  sins  of  my  past  life.  O  Lord,  be 
favourable  unto  me,  that  my  soul  may  not  behold  the  hellish 
countenance  of  the  spirits  of  darkness,  but  let  thy  bright 
and  joyful  angels  entertain  it.  Give  glory  to  thy  holy  name 
and  to  thy  majesty  ;  place  me  by  thy  merciful  arm  before 
thy  seat  of  judgment,  and  let  not  the  hand  of  the  prince  of 
this  world  snatch  me  from  thy  presence,  or  bear  me  into 
hell.  Mercy,  sweet  Jesu.  Amen. 
A  prayer  taken  out  of  the  Euchologion  of  the  Greek  church, 

to  be  said  by,  or  in  behalf  of,  people,  in  their  danger,  or 

near  their  death. 

L 

Bemired  with  sins  and  naked  of  good  deeds,  I  that  am  the 
meat  of  worms,  cry  vehemently  in  spirit ;  cast  not  me  a 
wretch  away  from  thy  face  ;  place  me  not  on  the  left  hand, 
wiio  with  thy  hands  didst  fashion  me ;  but  give  rest  unto 
mv  soul,  for  thy  great  mercy's  sake,  O  Lord. 

n. 

Supplicate  with  tears  unto  Christ,  who  is  to  judge  my 
poor  soul,  that  he  will  deliver  me  from  the  fire  that  is  un- 


212  PRAYERS  AT  THE 

quenchable.  I  pray  you  all,  my  friends  and  acquaintance, 
make  mention  of  me  in  your  prayers,  that  in  the  day  of 
judgment  I  may  find  mercy  at  that  dreadful  tribunal. 

III. 

Then  may  the  Standers-hy  pray. 
When  in  unspeakable  glory,  thou  dost  come  dreadfully 
to  judge  the  whole  world,  vouchsafe,  O  gracious  Redeemer 
that  this  thy  faithful  servant  may  in  the  clouds  meet  thee 
cheerfully.  They,  who  have  been  dead  from  the  beginning, 
with  terrible  and  fearful  trembling  stand  at  thy  tribunal, 
waiting  thy  just  sentence,  O  blessed  Saviour  Jesus.     None 
shall  there  tivoid  thy  formidable  and  most  righteous  judg- 
ment.    All  kings  and  princes  with  servants  stand  togethei 
and  hear  the  dreadful  voice  of  the  judge  condemning  the 
people  which  have  sinned,  into  hell;  from  which  sad  sen- 
tence, O  Christ,  deliver  thy  servant.     Amen. 
Then  let  the  sick  man  be  called  upon  to  rehearse  the  arti- 
cles  of  his  faith ;  or  if  he  be  so  weak  he  cannot,  let  him 
(if  he  have  not  before  done  it)  be  called  to  say.  Amen, 
when  they  are  recited,  or  to  give  some  testimony  of  hit 
faith  and  confident  assent  to  them. 
After  which  it  is  proper  (if  the  person  be  in  capacity)  that 
the  minister  examine  him,  and  invite  him  to  confession, 
and  all  the  parts  of  repentance,  according  to  the  fore- 
going rules :  after  which,  he  may  pray  this  prayer  of  ab- 
solution. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  given  commission  to 
his  church,  in  his  name  to  pronounce  pardon  to  all  that 
are  truly  penitent,  he,  of  his  mercy,  pardon  and  forgive  thee 
all  thy  sins,  deliver  thee  from  all  evils  past,  present,  and 
future,  preserve  thee  in  the  faith  and  fear  of  his  holy  name 
to  thy  life's  end,  and  bring  thee  to  his  everlasting  kingdom, 
to  live  with  him  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 
Then  let  the  sick  man  renounce  all  heresies,  and  whatso- 
ever is  against  the  truth  of  God  or  the  peace  of  the 
church,  and  pray  for  pardon  for  all  his  ignorances   and 
errors,  known  and  unknown. 
After  which  let  him  (if  all  other  circumstances  be  fitted)  be 
disposed  to  receive  the  blessed  sacrament,  in  which  the 
curate  is  to  minister  according  to  the  form  prescribed  by 
the  church. 
When  the  rites  are  finished,  let  the  sick  man  in  the  days  of 


VISITATION  OF  Till':  SICK.  213 

his  sickness  be  employee!  with  the  former  oflices  and 
exercises  before  described:  -ind  when  the  time  draws 
near  of  his  dissoUition,  the  minister  may  assist  by  the 
following  order  of  the  recommendation  of  the  soul. 

I. 
O  holy  and  most  gracious  Saviour  Jesus,  we  humbly  re- 
commend the  soul  of  thy  servant  into  tiiy  hands,  thy  most 
merciful  hands ;  let  thy  blessed  angels  stand  in  ministry 
about  thy  servant,  and  defend  him  from  the  violence  and 
malice  of  all  his  ghostly  enemies,  and  drive  far  from  hence  all 
the  spirits  of  darkness.     Amen. 

H. 
Lord,  receive  the  soul  of  this  thy  servant:  enter  not 
into  judgment  with  thy  servant:  spare  him  whom  thou  hast 
redeemed  with  thy  most  precious  blood  :  deliver  him  from 
all  evil,  for  whose  sake  thou  didst  suflcr  all  evil  and  mis- 
chief; from  the  crafts  and  assaults  of  the  devil,  from  the 
fear  of  death,  and  from  everlasting  death,  good  Lord,  de- 
liver him.     Amen. 

in. 

Impute  not  unto  him  the  follies  of  his  youth,  nor  any  of 
the  errors  and  miscarriages  of  his  life  ;  but  strengthen  him 
in  his  agony,  let  not  his  faith  weaver,  nor  his  hope  fail,  nor 
his  charity  be  disordered  ;  let  none  of  his  enemies  imprint 
upon  him  any  afiiictive  or  evil  fantasm  ;  let  him  die  in  peace, 
and  rest  in  hope,  and  rise  in  glory.  Amen. 
IV. 

Lord,  we  know  and  believe  assuredly,  that  whatsoever 
is  under  thy  custody  cannot  be  taken  out  of  thy  hands,  nor 
by  all  the  violences  of  hell  robbed  of  thy  protection  :  pre. 
serve  the  work  of  thy  hands,  rescue  him  from  all  evil ;  take 
into  the  participation  of  thy  glories  him,  to  whom  thou  hast 
given  the  seal  of  adoption,  the  earnest  of  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints.     Amen. 

V. 

Let  his  portion  be  with  Abraham, Isaac,  and  Jacob;  with 
Job  and  David,  with  the  prophets  and  apostles,  with  martyrs 
and  all  thy  holy  saints,  in  the  arms  of  Christ,  in  the  bosom 
of  felicity,  in  the  kingdom  of  God  to  eternal  ages.    Amen. 

'i'hese  followmg  prayers  are  fit  also  to  be  added  to  the 
foregoing  offices,  in  case  there  be  no  communion  or  in- 
tercourse but  prayer.  ■-, 


214  PRAYERS  AT  THE 

Let  us  pray. 

O  almighty  and  eternal  God,  there  is  no  number  of  thy 
days  or  of  thy  mercies :  thou  hast  sent  us  into  this  world  to 
serve  thee,  and  to  live  according  to  thy  laws ;  but  we  by 
our  sins  have  provoked  thee  to  wrath,  and  we  have  j)] anted 
thorns  and  sorrows  round  about  our  dwellings  :  and  our 
life  is  but  a  span  long,  and  yet  very  tedious,  because  of  the 
calamities  that  enclose  us  on  every  side  ;  the  days  of  our 
pilgrimage  are  few  and  evil;  we  have  frail  and  sickly 
bodies,  viofent  and  distempered  passions,  long  designs  and 
but  a  short  stay,  u'eak  understandings  and  strong  enemies, 
abused  fancies,  perverse  vvills.  O  dear  God,  look  upon  us 
in  mercy  and  pity  :  let  not  our  weaknesses  make  us  to  sin 
against  thee,  nor  our  fear  cause  us  to  betray  our  duty,  nor 
our  former  follies  provoke  thy  eternal  anger,  nor  the 
calamities  of  this  world  vex  us  into  tediousness  of  spirit  and 
impatience  ;  but  let  thy  Holy  Spirit  lead  us  through  this 
valley  of  misery  with  safety  and  peace,  with  holiness  and 
religion,  v.'ith  spiritual  comforts  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
that  when  Vv'e  have  served  thee  in  our  generations,  we  may 
be  gathered  unto  our  fathers,  having  the  testimony  of  a 
holy  conscience,  in  the  communion  of  the  catliolic  church, 
in  the  confidence  of  a  certain  faith,  and  the  comforts  of  a 
reasonable,  religious,  and  holy  hope,  and  perfect  charity 
with  thee  our  God  and  all  the  world  ;  that  neither  death, 
nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things 
present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any 
other  creatare,  may  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.  Amen. 
II. 

O  holy  and  most  gracious  Saviour  Jesus,  in  whose  hands 
the  souls  of  all  faithful  people  are  laid  up  till  the  day  of 
recompense,  have  mercy  upon  the  body  and  soul  of  this 
thy  servant,  and  upon  all  thy  elect  people,  who  love  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  long  for  his  coming:  Lord,  refresh  the 
imperfection  of  their  condition  with  the  aids  of  the  Spirit 
of  grace  and  comfort,  and  with  the  visitation  and  guard  of 
angels,  and  supply  to  them  all  their  necessities  known  only 
unto  thee;  let  them  dwell  in  peace,  and  feel  thy  mercies 
pitying  their  infirmities,  and  the  follies  of  their  flesh,  and 
speedily  satisfying  the  desires  of  their  spirits  :  and  when 
thou  slialt  bring  us  rll  forth  in  the  day  of  judgment,  O 
then  show  thyself  te  bo  our  Saviour  Jesus,  our  advocate 
li 


VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK.  215 

and  our  judge.  Lord,  then  remember,  that  thou  hast,  for 
so  many  ages,  prayed  for  the  pardon  of  those  sins,  wliich 
thou  art  then  to  sentence.  Let  not  the  accusations  of  our 
consciences,  nor  tlic  calumnies  and  aggravations  of  devils, 
nor  the  effects  of  thy  wrath,  press  tliose  souls,  which  thou 
lovest,  which  thou  didst  redeem,  which  thou  dost  })ray  for; 
but  enable  us  all,  by  the  supporting  hand  of  thy  mercy, 
to  stand  upright  in  judgment.  O  Lord,  have  mercy  upon 
us,  have  mercy  upon  us:  O  Lord,  let  thy  mercy  lighten 
upon  us,  as  our  trust  is  in  thee.  O  Lord,  in  thee  have  we 
trusted,  let  us  never  be  confounded.  Let  us  meet  with 
joy,  and  for  ever  dwell  with  thee,  feeling  thy  pardon,  sup- 
ported with  thy  graciousness,  absolved  by  thy  sentence,  saved 
by  thy  mercy,  that  we  may  sing  to  the  glory  of  thy  Name 
eternal  hallelujahs.     Amen.    Amen.    Amen. 

Then  may  be  added,  in  the  behalf  of  all  that  are  present, 
these  ejaculations. 

O  spare  us  a  little,  that  we  may  recover  our  strength,  be- 
fore we  go  hence,  and  be  no  more  seen.  Amen. 

Cast  us  not  away,  in  the  time  of  age  ;  O  forsake  us  not, 
when  strength  faileth.     Amen. 

Grant,  that  we  may  never  sleep  in  sin  or  death  eternal, 
but  that  we  may  have  our  part  of  the  first  resurrection,  and 
that  the  second  death  may  not  prevail  over  us.  Amen. 

Grant,  that  our  souls  may  be  bound  up  in  the  bundle  of 
life  ;  and  in  the  day,  when  thou  bindest  up  thy  jewels,  re- 
member thy  servants  for  good,  and  not  for  evil,  that  our 
souls  may  be  numbered  amongst  the  righteous.  Amen. 

Grant  unto  all  sick  and  dying  Christians  mercy  and  aids 
from  heaven  ;  and  receive  the  souls  returning  unto  thee, 
whom  thou  hast  redeemed  with  thy  most  precious  blood. 
Amen. 

Grant  unto  thy  servants  to  have  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus, 
a  daily  meditation  of  death,  a  contempt  of  the  world  ;  a 
longing  desire  after  heaven  ;  patience  in  our  sorrows  ;  com- 
fort in  our  sicknesses  ;  joy  in  God ;  a  holy  life  and  a  bless- 
ed death ;  that  our  souls  may  rest  in  hope,  and  my  body 
may  rise  in  glory,  and  both  may  be  beatified  in  the  commu- 
nion of  saints,  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  glories  of 
the  Lord  Jesus.     Amen. 


216  PRAYERS  AT  THE 


The  Blessim 


Now  the  God  of  peace,*  that  brought  again  from  the 
dead  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  great  shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
through  the  blood  of  the  everhisting  covenant,  make  you 
perfect  in  every  good  word,  to  do  his  will,  working  in  you 
that  which  is  pleasing  in  his  sight;  to  whom  be  glory,  for 
ever  and  ever.  Amen. 

The  Doxology. 
To  the  blessed  and  only  potentate,  the  King  of  kingSjf 
and  the  Lord  of  lords,  who  only  hath  immortality,  dwelling 
in  the  light,  which  no  man  can  approach  unto,  whom  no 
man  hath  seen  or  can  see,  be  honour  and  power  everlast- 
ing.    Amen. 

After  the  sick  man  is  departed,  the  minister,  if  he  be  pre- 
sent, or  the  major-domo,  or  any  other  fit  person,  may  use 
the  following  prayers  in  behalf  of  themselves. 

L 

Almighty  God,  with  whom  do  live  the  spirits  of  them 
that  depart  hence  in  the  Lord,  we  adore  thy  majesty,  and 
submit  to  thy  providence,  and  revere  thy  justice,  and  mag- 
nify thy  mercies,  thy  infinite  mercies,  that  it  hath  pleased 
thee  to  deliver  this  our  brother  out  of  the  miseries  of  this 
sinful  world.  Thy  counsels  are  secret,  and  thy  wisdom  is 
infinite :  with  the  same  hand  thou  hast  crowned  him,  and 
smitten  us  ;  thou  hast  taken  him  into  regions  of  felicity,  and 
placed  him  among  saints  and  angels,  and  left  us  to  mourn 
for  our  sins,  and  thy  displeasure,  which  thou  hast  signified 
to  us  by  removing  him  from  us  to  a  better,  a  far  better  place. 
Lord,  turn  thy  anger  into  mercy,  thy  chastisements  into 
virtues,  thy  rod  into  comforts,  and  do  thou  give  to  all  his 
nearest  relatives  comforts  from  heaven,  and  a  restitution 
of  blessings  equal  to  those  which  thou  hast  taken  from 
them.  And  v.'e  humbly  beseech  thee,  of  thy  gracious  good- 
ness, shortly  to  satisfy  the  longing  desires  of  those  holy 
souls,  who  pray,  and  wait,  and  long  for  thy  second  com- 
ing. Accomplish  thou  the  number  of  thine  elect,  and  fill 
up  the  mansions  in  heaven,  which  are  prepared  for  all  them 
that  love  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  we,  with  this 
our  brother,  and  all  others  departed  this  life  in  the  obedi- 
*  Keb.  xiii.  20,  21.  t  1  Tim.  vi.  15,  16. 


VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK.  217 

encc  and  faith  of  llio  Lord  Jesus,  may  have  our  pcrfectcon- 
summation  and  bliss  in  thy  eternal  glory,  which  never  shall 
have  ending.  Grant  this  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  our  Lord 
and  only  Saviour.     Amen. 

IL 

O  merciful  God,  father  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  who  art  the 
first-fruits  of  the  resurrection,  and  by  entering  into  glory 
hath  opened  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  believers,  we 
humbly  beseech  thee  to  raise  us  up  from  the  death  of  sin 
to  the  life  of  righteousness,  that  being  partakers  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  and  followers  of  his  holy  life,  we  may  be 
partakers  of  his  Spirit  and  of  his  promises  ;  that  when  we 
shall  depart  this  life,  we  may  rest  in  his  arms,  and  lie  in  his 
bosom,  as  our  hope  is,  this  our  brother  doth.  O  suffer  us 
not  for  any  temptations  of  the  world,  or  any  snares  of  the 
devil,  or  any  pains  of  death,  to  fall  from  thee.  Lord,  let 
thy  Holy  Spirit  enable  us  with  his  grace  to  fight  a  good 
fight  with  perseverance,  to  finish  our  course  with  holiness, 
and  to  keep  the  fciith  with  constancy  unto  the  end,  that,  at 
the  day  of  judgment  we  may  stand  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  throne  of  God,  and  hear  the  blessed  sentence  of, 
"  Come,  ye  blessed  children  of  my  Father,  receive  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world."  O  blessed  Jesus,  thou  art  our  judge,  and  thou 
art  our  advocate  ;  even  because  thou  art  good  and  gra- 
cious, never  suffer  us  to  fall  into  the  intolerable  pains  of 
hell,  never  to  lie  down  in  sin,  and  never  to  have  our  por- 
tion  in  the  everlasting  burning.  Mercy,  sweet  Jesu,  mercy. 
Amen. 

A  Prayer  to  be  said  in  the  case  of  a  sudden  Surprise  by 
Death,  as  by  a  mortal  Wound,  or  evil  Accidents  in  Child- 
Birth,  when  the  Forms  and  Solemnities  of  Preparation 
cannot  be  used. 

O  most  gracious  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
Judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead,  behold  thy  servants  run- 
ning to  thee  for  pity  and  mercy,  in  behalf  of  ourselves,  and 
this  thy  servant,  whom  thou  hast  smitten  with  thy  hasty 
rod,  and  a  swift  angel ;  if  it  be  thy  will,  preserve  his  life, 
that  there  may  be  place  for  his  repentance  and  restitution  : 
O  spare  him  a  little,  that  he  may  recover  his  strength,  be- 
t  2T 


218  OF  THE  CONTINGENCIES 

fore  he  go  hence  and  be  no  more  seen.  But  if  thou  hust 
otherwise  decreed,  let  the  miracles  of  thy  compassion  and 
thy  wonderful  mercy  supply  to  him  the  want  of  the  usual 
measures  of  time,  and  the  periods  of  repentance,  and  the 
trimming  of  his  lamp :  and  let  the  greatness  of  the  cala- 
lamity  be  accepted  by  thee  as  an  instrument  to  procure  par- 
don, for  those  defects  and  degrees  of  unreadiness,  which 
may  have  caused  this  accident  upon  thy  servant.  Lord, 
stir  up  in  him  a  great  and  effectual  contrition  :  that  tlic 
greatness  of  the  sorrow,  and  hatred  against  sin,  and  the 
zeal  of  his  love  to  thee,  may,  in  a  short  time,  do  the  u'ork 
of  many  days.  And  thou,  v/ho  regardest  the  heart  and 
the  measures  of  the  mind  more  than  the  delay  and  the 
measures  of  time,  let  it  be  thy  pleasure  to  rescue  the  soul 
of  thy  servant  from  all  the  evils  he  hath  deserved,  and  all 
the  evils  that  he  fears  ;  that  in  the  glorifications  of  eternity, 
and  the  songs,  which  to  eternal  ages  thy  saints  and  holy 
angels  shall  sing  to  the  honour  of  thy  mighty  name  and  in- 
valuable mercies,  it  may  be  reckoned  among  thy  glories, 
that  thou  hast  redeemed  this  soul  from  the  dangers  of  an 
eternal  death,  and  make  him  partaker  of  the  gift  of  God, 
eternal  life,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

If  there  be  time,  the  prayers  in  the  foregoing  offices  may 
be  added,  according  as  they  can  be  fitted  to  the  present 
circumstances. 

SECTION  VIII. 
A  Peroration  concerning  the  Contingencies  and  Treatings  of 

our  departed  friends  after  Death,  in  order  to  their  Burial, 

6fc. 

When  we  have  received  the  last  breath  of  our  friend,  and 
closed  his  eyes,  and  composed  his  body  for  the  grave,  then 
seasonable  is  the  counsel  of  the  son  of  Sirach ;  "  Weep 
bitterly  and  make  great  moan,  and  use  lamentation,  as  he 
is  worthy  ;  and  that  a  day  or  two  ;  lest  thou  be  evil  spoken 
of;  and  then  comfort  thyself  for  thy  heaviness.  But  take 
no  grief  to  heart ;  for  there  is  no  turning  again  :  thou  shalt 
not  do  him  good,  but  hurt  thyself."  Solemn  and  ap- 
pointed mournings  are  good  expressions  of  our  dearness  to 
the  departed  soul,  and  of  his  worth,  and  our  value  of  him  ; 
and  it  hath  its  praise  in  nature,  and  in  manners,  and  in 
public  customs  :  but  the  praise  of  it  is  not  in  the  gospel ; 
that  is,  it  hath  no  direct  and  proper  uses  in  religion.     For 


AND  TREATING  OUR  DEAD.  019 

if  the  dead  did  die  in  the  Lord,  t!)cri  tlicrc  is  joy  to  liim,  and 
it  is  an  ill  cx|«rcssion  of  our  afl'ection  and  our  charity,  to 
weep  uncomfortably  at  a  change,  that  hath  carried  my  friend 
to  the  state  of  a  huge  felicity.  But  if  the  man  did  perish 
in  his  folly  and  his  sins,  there  is  indeed  cause  to  mourn,  but 
no  hopes  of  being  comforted  ;  for  he  shall  never  return  to 
light,  or  to  hopes  of  restitution  ;  therefore  beware,  lest 
thou  also  come  into  the  same  place  of  torment :  and  let 
thy  grief  sit  down  and  rest  upon  thy  own  turf,  and  weep 
till  a  shower  springs  from  the  eyes  to  heal  the  wounds  of 
thy  spirit:  turn  thy  sorrow  into  caution,  thy  grief  for  him 
that  is  dead,  to  thy  care  for  thyself  who  art  alive,  lest  thou 
die  and  fall  like  one  of  the  fools,  whose  life  is  w'orse  than 
death,  and  their  death  is  the  consummation  of  all  felicities. 
The  church,  in  her  funerals  of  the  dead,  used  to  sing  psalms, 
and  to  give  thanks  for  the  redemption  and  delivery  of  the 
soul  from  the  evils  and  dangers  of  mortality.  And  there- 
fore we  have  no  reason  to  be  angry,  when  God  hears  our 
prayers,  who  call  upon  him  to  hasten  his  coming,  and  to 
fill  up  his  numbers,  and  to  do  that,  which  we  pretend  to 
give  him  thanks  for.  And  St.  Chrysostom  asks,  a,"  To 
what  purpose  is  it  that  thou  singest,  'Return  unto  thy  rest, 
O  my  soul,'  &;c.  if  thou  dost  not  believe  thy  friend  to  be  in 
rest?  and  if  thou  dost,  w^hy  dost  thou  w'eep  impertinently 
and  unreasonably?"  Nothing  but  our  own  loss  can  justly  be 
deplored :  and  him,  that  is  passionate  for  the  loss  of  his 
money  or  his  advantages,  we  esteem  foolish  and  imperfect; 
and  therefore  have  no  reason  to  love  the  immoderate  sor- 
rows of  those,  w'ho  too  earnestly  mourn  for  their  dead, 
wiicn,  in  the  last  resolution  of  the  inquiry,  it  is  their  own 
evil  and  present  or  feared  inconveniences  they  deplore  ; 
the  best  that  can  be  said  of  such  a  grief,  is,  that  those 
mourners  love  themselves  too  well.  Something  is  to  be 
given  to  custom,  something  to  fame,  to  nature,  and  to  civi- 
lities, and  to  the  honour  of  the  deceased  friends  ;  for  that 
man  is  esteemed  to  die  miserable,  for  whom  no  friend  or 
relative  sheds  a  tear,  or  pays  a  solemn  sigh.  I  desire  to 
die  a  dry  deaths  but  am  not  very  desirous  to  have  a  dry  fu- 
neral :  some  flow^ers  sprinkled  upon  my  grave  would  do 
well  and  comely  ;  and  a  soft  shower  to  turn  those  flowers 
into  a  springing  memory  or  a  fair  rehearsal,  that  I  may  not 
go  forth  of  my  doors,  as  my  servants  carry  the  entrails  of 
beasts. 


220  OF  THE  CONTINGENCIES 

But  that  which  is  to  be  faulted  in  this  particular  is,  when 
the  grief  is  immoderate  and  unreasonable  :  and  Paula  Ro- 
mana  deserved  to  have  felt  the  weight  of  St.  Jerome's  se- 
vere reproof,  when  at  the  death  of  every  of  her  children 
she  almost  wept  herself  into  her  grave.  But  it  is  worse 
yet,  when  people,  by  an  ambitious  and  a  pompous  sorrow, 
and  by  ceremonies  invented  for  the  ostentation  of  their 
grief,  fill  heaven  and  earth  with  exclamations,  and  grow 
troublesome,  because  their  friend  is  happy,  or  themselves 
want  his  company.  It  is  certainly  a  sad  thing  in  nature  to 
see  a  friend  trembling  with  a  palsy,  or  scorched  with  fevers, 
or  dried  up  like  a  potsherd  with  immoderate  heats,  and 
rolling  upon  his  uneasy  bed  without  sleep,  which  cannot 
be  invited  with  music,  or  pleasant  murmurs,  or  a  decent 
stillness;  nothing  but  the  servants  of  cold  death,  Poppy 
and  Weariness,  can  tempt  the  eyes  to  let  their  curtains 
down  ;  and  then  they  sleep  only  to  taste  of  death,  and 
make  an  essay  of  the  shades  below  :  and  yet  we  weep  not 
here;  the  period  and  opportunity  for  tears,  we  choose, 
when  our  friend  is  fallen  asleep,  when  he  hath  laid  his 
neck  upon  the  lap  of  his  mother  ;  and  let  his  head  down, 
to  be  raised  up  to  heaven.  This  grief  is  ill  placed  and  in- 
decent. But  many  times  it  is  worse  :  and  it  hath  been  ob- 
served, that  those  greater  and  stormy  passions  do  so  spend 
the  whole  stock  of  grief,  that  they  presently  admit  a  com- 
fort and  contrary  afiection,  while  a  sorrow  that  is  even  and 
temperate,  goes  on  to  its  period  with  expectation  and  the 
distances  of  a  just  time.  The  Ephesian  woman,  that  the 
soldier  told  of  in  Petronius,  was  the  talk  of  all  the  town,  and 
the  rarest  example  of  a  dear  afiection  to  her  husband  ;  she 
descended  with  the  corpse  into  the  vault,  and  there  being 
attended  with  her  maiden  resolved  to  weep  to  death,  or  die 
with  famine  or  a  distempered  sorrow  :  from  which  resolu- 
tion nor  his  nor  her  friends,  nor  the  reverence  of  the  prin- 
cipal ciV:zens,  who  used  the  entreaties  of  their  charity  and 
their  power,  could  persuade  her.  But  a  soldier  that 
watched  seven  dead  bodies  hanging  upon  trees  just  over 
against  this  monument,  crept  in,  and  awhile  stared  upon 
the  silent  and  comely  disorders  of  the  sorrow  :  and  having 
let  the  wonder  awhile  breathe  out  at  each  other's  eyes,  at 
last  he  fetched  his  supper  and  a  bottle  of  wine,  with  pur- 
pose to  eat  and  drink,  and  still  to  feed  himself  with  that 
sad  prettiness.      His  pity  and  first  draught  of  wine  made 


AND  TREATING  OUR  DEAD.  221 

him  bold  and  curious  to  try  if  the  maid  would  drink  ;  wlio, 
having,  many  iiours  since,  felt  her  resolution  faint  as  her 
wearied  body,  took  his  kindness,  and  the  li^^ht  returned 
into  her  eyes,  and  danced  like  boys  in  a  festival :  and  fear- 
ing lest  the  pertinaciousness  of  her  mistress's  sorrows 
should  cause  her  evil  to  revert,  or  her  shame  to  approach, 
essayed  whether  she  would  endure  to  hear  an  argument  to 
persuade  her  to  drink  and  live.  The  violent  passion  had 
laid  all  her  spirits  in  wildness  and  dissolution,  and  the  maid 
found  them  willing  to  be  gathered  into  order  at  the  arrest 
of  any  new  object,  being  weary  of  the  first,  of  which.,  like 
leeches,  they  had  sucked  their  fill,  till  they  fell  dovv-n  and 
burst.  The  weeping  woman  took  her  cordial,  and  was  not 
angry  with  her  maid,  and  heard  the  soldier  talk :  and  he 
was  so  pleased  with  the  change,  that  he  who  first  loved  the 
silence  of  the  sorrow,  was  more  in  love  wath  the  music  of 
her  returning  voice,  especially  which  he  himself  had  strung 
and  put  into  tune  :  and  the  man  began  to  talk  amorously, 
and  the  woman's  weak  head  and  heart  Avere  soon  possessed 
with  a  little  wine,  and  grew  gay,  and  talked,  and  fell  in 
love ;  and  that  very  night,  in  the  morning  of  her  passion, 
in  the  grave  of  her  husband,  in  the  pompsof  mourning,  and 
in  her  funeral  garments,  married  her  new  and  stranger 
guest.  For  so  the  wild  foragers  of  Lybia  being  spent 
with  heat,  and  dissolved  by  the  too  fond  kisses  of  the  sun, 
do  melt  with  their  common  fires,  and  die  with  faintness,  and 
descend  with  motion  slow  and  unable  to  the  little  brooks, 
that  descend  from  heaven  in  the  wnlderncss  ;  and  when 
they  drink,  they  return  into  the  vigour  of  a  new^  life,  and 
contract  strange  marriages  ;  and  the  lioness  is  courted  by 
a  panther,  and  she  listens  to  his  love,  and  conceives  a 
monster  that  all  men  call  unnatural,  and  the  daughter  of 
an  equivocal  passion  and  of  a  sudden  refreshment.  And 
so  also  w  as  it  in  the  cave  of  Ephesus  ;  for  by  this  time  the 
soldier  began  to  think  it  was  fit,  he  should  return  to  his 
watch,  and  observe  the  dead  bodies  he  had  in  charge  :  but 
when  he  ascended  from  his  mourning  bridal  chamber,  he 
found  that  one  of  the  bodies  was  stolen  by  the  friends  of 
the  dead,  and  that  he  was  fallen  into  an  evil  condition,  be- 
cause, by  the  laws  of  Ephesus,  his  body  was  to  be  fixed  in 
the  place  of  it.  The  poor  man  returns  to  his  woman,  cries 
out  bitterly,  and  in  her  presence  resolves  to  die  to  prevent 
his  death,  and  in  secret  to  prevent  his  shame ;  but  now 
/  2  2  T  2 


222  OF  THE  CONTINGENCIES 

the  woman's  love  was  raging  like  her  former  sadness,  and 
grew  witty,  and  she  comforted  her  soldier,  and  persuaded 
him  to  live,  lest,  by  losing  him,  who  had  brought  her  from 
death  and  a  more  grievous  sorrow,  she  should  return  to 
her  old  solemnities  of  dying,  and  lose  her  honour  for  a 
dream,  or  the  reputation  of  her  constancy  without  the 
change  and  satisfaction  of  an  enjoyed  love.  The  man 
would  fain  have  lived,  if  it  had  been  possible,  and  she  found 
out  this  way  for  him ;  that  he  should  take  the  body  of  her 
first  husband,  whose  funeral  she  had  so  strangely  mourned, 
and  put  it  upon  the  gallows  in  the  place  of  the  stolen  thief; 
he  did  so,  and  escaped  the  present  danger,  to  possess  a 
love,  which  might  change  as  violently,  as  her  grief  had 
done.  But  so  have  I  seen  a  crowd  of  disordered  people 
rush  violently  and  in  heaps,  till  their  utmost  border  was  re- 
strained by  a  wall,  or  had  spent  the  fury  of  the  first  fluctua- 
tion and  watery  progress,  and  by  and  by  it  returned  to  the 
contrary  with  the  same  earnestness,  only  because  it  was 
violent  and  ungoverned.  A  raging  passion  is  this  crowd, 
which  when  it  is  not  under  discipline  and  the  conduct  of 
reason,  and  the  proportions  of  temperate  humanity,  runs 
passionately  the  way  it  happens,  and  by  and  by  as  greedily 
to  another  side,  being  swayed  by  its  own  weight,  and  driven 
any  whither  by  chance,  in  all  its  pursuits  having  no  rule, 
but  to  do  all  it  can,  and  spend  itself  in  haste,  and  expire 
with  some  shame  and  much  indecency. 

When  thou  hast  wept  awhile,  compose  the  body  to  bu- 
rial ;  which  that  it  be  done  gravely,  decently,  and  charitably, 
we  have  the  example  of  all  nations  to  engage  us,  and  of 
all  ages  of  the  world  to  warrant :  so  that  it  is  against  com- 
mon honesty,  and  public  fame  and  reputation,  not  to  do 
this  office. 

It  is  good  that  the,  body  be  kept  veiled  and  secret,  and 
not  exposed  to  curious  eyes,  or  the  dishonours  wrought  by 
the  changes  of  death,  discerned  and  stared  upon  by  im- 
pertinent persons.  When  Cyrus  was  dying,  he  called  his 
sons  and  friends  to  take  their  leave,  to  touch  his  hand,  to 
see  him  the  last  time,  and  gave  in  charge,  that  when  he  had 
put  his  veil  over  his  face  no  man  should  uncover  it ;  and 
Epiphanius's  body  was  rescued  from  inquisitive  eyes  by  a 
miracle.  Let  it  be  interred  after  the  manner  of  the  country, 
and  the  laws  of  the  place,  and  the  dignity  of  the  person. 
For  so  Jacob  was  buried  with  great  solemnity,  and  Joseph's 


AND  TREATING  OUR  DEAD.  223 

bones  were  carried  into  Canaan,  after  they  had  been  em- 
bahned  and  koyit  four  hundred  years;  and  devout  men 
carried  St.  Stcplicn  to  his  burial,  making  great  lamentation 
over  him.  And  J^^lian  tells  that  those  who  were  the  most 
excellent  persons  were  buried  in  purple  ;  and  men  of  an 
ordinary  courage  and  fortune,  had  their  graves  only  trim- 
med with  branches  of  olive,  and  mourning  flowers.  But 
when  Mark  Antony  gave  the  body  of  Brutus  to  his  freed- 
man  to  be  buried  honestly,  he  gave  also  his  own  mantle  to 
be  thrown  into  his  funeral  pile  :  and  the  magnificence  of  the 
old  funeral  we  may  see  largely  described  by  Virgil  in  the 
obsequies  of  JNlisenas,  and  by  Homer  in  the  funeral  of  Pa- 
troclus.  It  was  noted  for  piety  in  the  men  of  Jabesh-Gi- 
lead,  that  they  showed  kindness  to  their  lord  Saul  and 
buried  him ;  and  they  did  it  honourably.  And  our  blessed 
Saviour,  who  was  temperate  in  his  expense,  and  grave  in 
all  the  parts  of  his  life  and  death,  as  age  and  sobriety  itself, 
yet  was  pleased  to  admit  the  cost  of  Mary's  ointment  upon 
his  head  and  feet,  because  she  did  it  against  his  burial : 
and  though  she  little  thought  it  had  been  so  nigh,  yet 
because  he  accepted  it  for  that  end,  he  knew  he  had  made 
her  apology  sufficient :  by  which  he  remarked  it  to  be  a 
great  act  of  piety,  and  honourable,  to  inter  our  friends  and 
relatives  according  to  the  proportions  of  their  condition, 
and  so  to  give  a  testimony  of  our  hope  of  their  resurrection. 
So  far  is  piety ;  beyond  it  may  be  the  ostentation  and 
bragging  of  a  grief,  or  a  design  to  serve  worse  ends. 
Such  was  that  of  Herod,  when  he  made  too  studied  and 
elaborate  a  funeral  for  Aristobulus,  whom  he  had  mur- 
dered ;  and  of  Regulus  for  his  boy,  at  whose  pile  he  killed 
dogs,  nightingales,  parrots,  and  little  horses;  and  such 
also  was  the  expense  of  some  of  the  Romans,  who,  hating 
their  left  wealth,  gave  order  by  their  testament,  to  have 
huge  portions  of  it  thrown  into  their  fires,  bathing  their 
locks,  which  were  presently  to  pass  through  the  fire,  with 
Arabian  and  Egy])tian  liquors,  and  balsam  of  Judea.  In 
this,  as  in  every  thing  else,  as  our  piety  must  not  pass 
into  superstition  or  vain  expense,  so  neither  must  the  ex- 
cess be  turned  into  parsimony,  and  chastized  by  negligence 
and  impiety  to  the  memory  of  their  dead. 

But  nothing  of  this  concerns  the  dead  in  real  and  ef- 
fective purposes;  nor  is  it  with  care  to  be  provided  for  by 
themselves  :  but  it  is  the  duty  of  the  living.     For  to  them  it 


224  ^^  THE  CONTINGENCIES 

is  all  one,  whether  they  be  carried  forth  upon  a  chariot  or 
a  wooden  bier;  whether  they  rot  in  the  air  or  in  the  earth; 
whether  they  be  devoured  by  fishes  or  by  worms,  by  birds, 
or  by  sepulchral  dogs,  by  water  or  by  fire,  or  by  delay. 
When  Criton  asked  Socrates  how  he  would  be  buried,  he 
told  him,  I  think  I  shall  escape  from  you,  and  that  you 
cannot  catch  me  :  but  so  much  of  me  as  you  can  apprehend, 
use  it  as  you  see  cause  for,  and  bury  it ;  but  however  do  it 
according  to  the  laws.  There  is  nothing  in  this  but  opinion 
and  the  decency  of  fame  to  be  served.  Where  it  is  esteemed 
an  honour  and  the  manner  of  blessed  people  to  descend 
into  the  graves  of  their  fathers,  there  also  it  is  reckoned  as 
a  curse  to  be  buried  in  a  strange  land,  or  that  the  birds  of 
the  air  devour  them.  Some  nations  used  to  eat  the  bodies 
of  their  friends,  and  esteemed  that  the  most  honoured  se- 
pulture ;  but  they  were  barbarous.  The  magi  never  buried 
any,  but  such  as  were  torn  of  beasts.  The  Persians  be- 
smeared their  dead  with  wax,  and  the  Egyptians  with 
gums,  and  with  great  art  did  condite  the  bodies,  and  laid 
them  in  charnel-houses.  But  Cyrus  the  elder  would  none 
of  all  this,  but  gave  command,  that  his  body  should  be 
interred,  not  laid  in  a  coffin  of  gold  or  silver,  but  just  into 
the  earth,  from  whence  all  living  creatures  receive  birth  and 
nourishment,  and  whither  they  must  return.  Among  Chris- 
tians the  honour  which  is  valued  in  behalf  of  the  dead  is 
that  they  be  buried  in  holy  ground,  that  is,  in  appointed 
cemetries,  in  places  of  religion,  there  where  the  field  of 
God  is  sown  with  the  seeds  of  the  resurrection,  that  their 
bodies  also  may  be  among  the  Christians,  with  whom  their 
hope  and  their  portion  is,  and  shall  be  for  ever.  "  Quicquid 
feceris,  omnia  haec  eodem  ventura  sunt."  That  we  are  sure 
of;  our  bodies  shall  be  restored  to  our  souls  hereafter,  and 
in  the  interval  they  shall  all  be  turned  into  dust,  by  what 
way  soever  you  or  your  chance  shall  dress  them.  Licinus 
the  freedman  slept  in  a  marble  tomb  ;  but  Cato  in  a  little 
one,  Pompey  in  none  :  and  yet  they  had  the  best  fate 
among  the  Romans,  and  a  memory  of  the  biggest  honour. 
And  it  may  happen,  that  to  want  a  monument  may  best 
preserve  their  memories,  while  the  succeeding  ages  shall 
by  their  instances,  remember  the  changes  of  the  world, 
and  the  dishonours  of  death,  and  the  equality  of  the  dead  : 
and  James  the  fourth,  king  of  the  Scots,  obtained  an  epi- 
taph for  wanting  of  a  tomb  ;  and  King  Stephen  is  remem- 


AND  TREATING  OUR  DEAD.  225 

bered  with  a  sad  story,  because,  four  hundred  years  after 
his  death,  his  bones  were  thrown  into  a  river,  that  evil  rnen 
might  sell  the  leaden  coffin.  It  is  all  one  in  the  final  event 
of  things.  Ninus  the  Assyrian  had  a  monument  erected, 
whose  height  was  nine  furlongs,  and  the  breadth  ten,  saith 
Diodorus  :  but  John  the  Baptist  had  more  honour,  when 
he  was  humbly  laid  in  the  earth  between  the  bodies  of  Ab- 
dias  and  Elizeus.  And  St.  Ignatius,  who  was  buried  in  the 
bodies  of  lions,  and  St.  Polycarp,who  was  burned  to  ashes, 
shall  have  their  bones  and  their  flesh  again,  with  greater 
comfort  than  those  violent  persons  who  slept  among  kings, 
having  usurped  their  thrones  when  they  were  alive,  and 
their  sepulclires,  when  they  were  dead. 

Concerning  doing  honour  to  the  dead,  the  consideration 
is  not  long.  Anciently  the  friends  of  the  dead  used  to  make 
their  funeral  orations,  and  what  they  spake  of  greater  com- 
mendation, was  pardoned  upon  the  accounts  of  friendship  ; 
but  when  Christianity  seized  upon  the  possession  of  the 
world,  this  charge  was  devolved  upon  priests  and  bishops, 
and  they  first  kept  the  custom  of  the  world,  and  adorned  it 
with  the  piety  of  truth  and  of  religion  ;  but  they  also  so 
ordered  it,  that  it  should  not  be  cheap;  for  they  made  fu- 
neral sermons  only  at  the  death  of  princes,  or  of  such  holy 
persons,  "  who  shall  judge  the  angels."  The  custom  de- 
scended, and  in  the  channels  mingled  with  the  veins  of 
earth,  through  which  it  passed  ;  and,  now-a-days,  men  that 
die  are  commended  at  a  price,  and  the  measure  of  their 
legacy  is  the  degree  of  their  virtue.  But  these  things  ought 
not  so  to  be  :  the  reward  of  the  greatest  virtue  ought  not  to 
be  prostitute  to  the  doles  of  common  persons,  but  preserved 
like  laurels  and  coronets,  to  remark  and  encourage  the 
noblest  things.  Persons  of  an  ordinary  life  should  neither 
be  praised  publicly  nor  reproached  in  private  :  for  it  is  an 
office  and  charge  of  humanity  to  speak  no  evil  of  the  dead 
(which,  I  suppose,  is  meant  concerning  things  not  public 
and  evident ;)  but  then  neither  should  our  charity  to  them 
teach  us  to  tell  a  lie,  or  to  make  a  great  flame  from  a  heap 
of  rushes  and  mushrooms,  and  make  orations  crammed 
with  the  narrative  of  little  observances,  and  acts  of  civil, 
and  necessary,  and  eternal  religion. 

But  that  which  is  most  considerable  is,  that  we  should 
do  something  for  the  dead,  something  that  is  real,  and  of 
proper  advantange.     That  we  perform  their  will,  the  law:i 


226 


OF  THE  CONTINGENCIES 


oblige  us,  and  will  see  to  it;  but  that  we  do  ail  those  parts 
of  personal  duty,  which  our  dead  left  unperformed,  and  to 
which  the  laws  do  not  oblige  us,  is  an  act  of  great  charity 
aad  perfect  kindness  :  and  it  may  redound  to  the  advan- 
tage of  our  friends  also,  that  their  debts  be  paid  even  be- 
yond the  inventory  of  their  moveables. 

Besides  this,  let  us  right  their  causes,  and  assert  their 
honour.  When  Marcus  Regulus  had  injured  the  memory  of 
Herennius  Senecio,  Metius  Carus  asked  him,  what  he  had 
to  do  with  his  dead  ;  and  became  his  advocate  after  death, 
of  vv'hose  cause  he  was  patron,  when  he  was  alive.  And 
David  added  this  also,  that  he  did  kindness  to  Mephibo- 
sheth  for  Jonathan's  sake :  and  Solomon  pleaded  his  fa- 
ther's  cause  by  the  sword  against  Joab  and  Shimei.  And 
certainly  it  is  the  noblest  thing  in  the  world  to  do  an  act  of 
kindness  to  him,  whomw^e  shall  never  see,  but  yet  hath  de- 
served it  of  us,  and  to  whom  we  would  do  it  if  he  were  pre- 
sent; and  unless  we  do  so,  our  charity  is  mercenary,  and 
our  friendships  are  direct  merchandize,  and  our  gifts  are 
brokage  :  but  what  we  do  to  the  dead,  or  to  the  living  for  their 
sakes,  is  gratitude,  and  virtue  for  virtue's  sake,  and  the 
noblest  portion  of  humanity. 

And  yet  I  remember,  that  the  most  excellent  prince 
Cyrus,  in  his  last  exhortation  to  his  sons  upon  his  death- 
bed,  charms  them  into  peace  and  union  of  hearts  and  de- 
signs, by  telling  them,  that  his  soul  would  be  still  alive, 
and  therefore  fit  to  be  revered  and  accounted  as  awful  and 
venerable,  as  when  he  was  alive  :  and  what  we  do  to  our 
dead  friends,  is  not  done  to  persons  undiscerning  as  a 
fallen  tree,  but  to  such,  who  better  attend  to  their  relatives, 
and  to  greater  purposes,  though  in  other  manner,  than 
they  did  here  below.  And  therefore  those  wise  persons, 
who  in  their  funeral  orations  made  their  doubt,  with  an 

dead  have  any  perception  of  what  is  done  below,"  which 
are  the  words  of  Isocrates,  in  the  funeral  encomium 
of  Evagoras,  did  it  upon  the  uncertain  opinion  of  the 
soul's  immortality;  but  made  no  question,  if  they  were 
living,  they  did  also  understand  what  could  concern  them. 
The  same  words  Nazienzen  uses  at  the  exequies  of 
his  sister  Gorgonia,  and  in  the  former  invective  against 
Julian  :  but  this  was  upon  another  reason,  even  because  it 
was  uncertain,  what  the  state  of  separation  was,  and  whe- 


AiND  TJiEATING  OUR  DEAD.  007 

ther  our  dead  perceive  any  tiling  of  us,  till  we  shall  meet  in 
the  day  of  judgment.  If  it  was  uncertain  then,  it  is  certain, 
since  that  time  we  have  had  no  new  revelation  concerning 
it ;  but  it  is  ten  to  one  but,  when  we  die,  we  shall  find 
the  state  of  allairs  wholly  differing  from  all  our  opinions 
here,  and  that  no  man  or  sect  hath  guessed  any  thing  at 
all  of  it,  as  it  is.  Here  I  intend  not  to  dispute,  but  to  per- 
suade ;  and  therefore  in  the  general,  if  it  be  probable,  that 
they  know  or  feel  the  benefits  done  to  them,  though  but  by 
a  reflex  revelation  from  God,  or  some  undcr-communica- 
tion  from  an  agel,  or  the  stock  of  acquired  notices  here 
below,  it  may  the  rather  endear  us  to  our  charities  or  duties 
to  them  respectively  ;  since  our  virtues  use  not  to  live  upon 
abstractions,  and  metaphysical  perfections,  or  inducements, 
but  then  thrive,  when  they  have  material  arguments,  such 
which  are  not  too  far  from  sense.  However  it  be,  it  is  cer- 
tain they  are  not  dead ;  and  though  we  no  more  see  the 
souls  of  our  dear  friends,  than  we  did  when  they  were 
alive,  yet  we  have  reason  to  believe  them  to  know  more 
things  and  better  :  and  if  our  sleep  be  an  image  of  death, 
we  may  also  observe  concerning  it,  that  it  is  a  state  of  life 
so  separate  from  communications  Av'ith  the  body,  that  it  is 
one  of  the  Avays  of  oracle  and  prophecy  by  which  the  soul 
best  declares  her  immortality,  and  the  nobleness  of  her 
actions,  and  powers,  if  she  could  get  free  from  the  body 
(as  in  the  state  of  separation,  or  a  clear  dominion  over  it,) 
as  in  the  resurrection.  To  which  also  this  consideration 
may  be  added,  that  men  a  long  time  live  the  life  of  sense, 
before  they  use  their  reason  ;  and  till  they  have  furnished 
their  head  with  experiments  and  notices  of  many  things, 
they  cannot  at  all  discourse  of  any  thing:  but  when  they 
come  to  use  their  reason,  all  their  knowledge  is  nothing 
but  remembrance ;  and  we  know  by  proportions,  by  simili- 
tudes and  dissimilitudes,  by  relations  and  oppositions,  by 
causes  and  effects,  by  comparing  things  with  things  ;  all 
which  are  nothing  but  operations  of  understanding  upon 
the  stock  of  former  notices,  of  something  we  knew  before, 
nothing  but  remembrances :  all  the  heads  of  topics,  which 
are  the  stock  of  all  arguments  and  sciences  in  the  world, 
are  a  certain  demonstration  of  this  ;  and  he  is  the  wisest 
man,  that  remembers  most,  and  joins  those  remembrances 
together,  to  the  best  purposes  of  discourse.  From  whence 
it  may  not  be  improbably  gathered,  that  in  the  state  of  se- 


228  ^^^  TREATING  OUR  DEAD. 

paration,  if  there  be  any  act  of  understanding,  that  is,  if 
the  understandings  be  alive,  it  must  be  relative  to  the  no- 
tices it  had  in  this  world  ;  and  therefore  the  acts  of  it  must 
be  discourses  upon  all  the  parts  and  persons  of  their  con- 
versation and  relation,  excepting  only  such  new  revelation, 
which  may  be  communicated  to  it :  concerning  which  we 
know  nothing.  But  if  by  seeing  Socrates  I  think  upon 
Plato,  and  by  seeing  a  picture  I  remember  a  man,  and  by 
beholding  two  friends,  I  remember  my  own  and  my  friend's 
need  (and  he  is  the  wisest  that  draws  most  lines  from  the 
same  centre,  and  most  discourses  from  the  same  notices ;) 
it  cannot  but  be  very  probable  to  believe,  since  the  sepa- 
rate souls  understand  better,  if  they  understand  at  all,  that 
from  the  notices  they  carried  from  hence,  and  what  they 
find  there  equal  or  unequal  to  those  notices,  they  can  better 
discover  the  things  of  their  friends,  than  we  can  here  by 
our  conjectures  and  craftiest  imaginations  :  and  yet  many 
men  here  can  guess  shrewdly  at  the  thoughts  and  designs 
of  such  men  with  whom  they  discourse,  or  of  whom  they 
have  heard,  or  whose  characters  they  prudently  have  per- 
ceived. I  have  no  other  end  in  this  discourse,  but  that 
we  may  be  engaged  to  do  our  duty  to  our  dead  ;  lest  per- 
adventure  they  should  perceive  our  neglect,  and  be  wit- 
nesses of  our  transient  affections  and  forgetfulness.  Dead 
persons  have  religion  passed  upon  them,  and  a  solemn  re- 
verence :  and  if  we  think  a  ghost  beholds  us,  it  may  be, 
we  may  have  upon  us  the  impressions  likely  to  be  made  by 
love,  and  fear,  and  religion.  However,  we  are  sure,  that 
God  sees  us,  and  the  world  sees  us :  and  if  it  be  matter  of 
duty  towards  our  dead,  God  will  exact  it:  if  it  be  matter 
of  kindness,  the  world  will :  and  as  religion  is  the  band  of 
that,  so  fame  and  reputation  are  the  endearment  of  this. 

It  remains,  that  we  who  are  alive,  should  so  live,  and  by 
the  actions  of  rehgion  attend  the  coming  of  the  day  of  the 
Lord,  that  we  neither  be  surprised,  nor  leave  our  duties 
imperfect,  nor  our  sins  uncancelled,  nor  our  persons  unre- 
conciled, nor  God  unappeased  ;  but  that,  when  we  descend 
to  our  graves,  we  may  rest  in  the  bosom  of  the  Lord,  till 
the  mansions  be  prepared,  where  we  shall  sing  and  feast 
eternally.     Amen. 

Te  Deum  Laudamus. 

THE  END. 


DATE  DUE 

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GAYLORD 

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